Spartans' offence explodes for nine goals in home ice romp over Victoria

Seven different goal scorers propelled Trinity Western University to an emphatic 9-1 win at home over the University of Victoria Vikes on Friday at the Langley Events Centre.

Evan Last and Logan Casavant each had two goals and an assist for TWU, with Brayden Brown, Josh Bruce, Hayden Guilderson, Dylan Cusmano and Travis Verveda also scoring for the Spartans.

TWU goaltender Lucas Mills made 15 saves to earn his second win of the season. Vikes goaltender Niall Murphy surrendered four goals on 27 shots through two periods, while Daniel Paul surrendered five goals on 22 third period shots.

“Last game we learned a valuable lesson, that we have to work hard for a full 60 minutes," says TWU Coach Barret Kropf. "We carried that lesson into tonight and did just that. Victoria never stops working and they jump on opportunities, so our guys did a good job playing a solid full game.

After a scoreless first period, the Spartans registered the first goal of the game early into the second period when Cusmano deflected a Brayden Brown pass in the crease to make it 1-0 TWU 34 second into the second. Just 36 seconds later the Spartans added another, when former Vike Hayden Guilderson scored off his own rebound, banking the puck off Murphy to push the Spartans lead to two. Evan Last pushed the lead to three with a one timer on the powerplay at 10:15 of the second period.

David Stickney scored the lone Vikes goal with 5:39 left in the period to make it 3-1. Logan Casavant then added a late powerplay goal for TWU, as the Spartans entered the third period with a 4-1 lead. TWU never looked back, adding three even strength goals and two powerplay markers in the third to close out the game 9-1.

With their second win of the season the Spartans overall record improves to 2-0-0-0, while the Vikes drop to 2-3-0-1 on the season with the loss.

“Full credit to all 20 guys, it was a good week of practice with lots of good habits and takeaways being brought into tonigh," says Kropf. "We knew heading into this weekend we had to make adjustments and put in time, and everyone really owned it tonight."

“Our players that should score goals and put up points did that for us tonight, but we can also celebrate our third and fourth line guys drawing penalties and creating turnovers, which in turn brought confidence to our group and motivated us tonight. Gerth and the Sylvain brothers were probably more valuable to us than all the guys that put up all the points. From the first line to the fourth line, to our special teams, it was a really good team win tonight.”

Thw game marked TWU second-year forward Haydon Guilderson’s first time playing against the Vikes after transferring to TWU from Victoria this year. TWU held a 4-1-1 record against the Vikes last season, who finished last in the BCIHL last season with a 5-17-0-2 record.

The Spartans last scored nine goals in a game on March 15, 2019, defeating Vancouver Island 9-1 at the Aldergrove Credit Union Community Centre in game two of the BCIHL championship series.

The Spartans continue their homestand on Saturday, Oct. 19, playing host to Vancouver Island at the Aldergrove Credit Union Community Centre. Puck drop is set for 2:00 PM.