Spartans and Clan set for Saturday night rematch in Burnaby

Trinity Western University will look to keep their unbeaten run alive and move to 5-0-0-0 on the season when they visit Burnaby on Saturday night to take on their Lower Mainland rivals from Simon Fraser University.

The Spartans are coming off a 3-2 home ice win over the Clan in the last game for both teams back on October 24th. Evan Last led the way with a pair of first period goals that night, as TWU took a three-goal lead after 20 minutes and held on despite a late SFU push.

Last sits fourth amongst BCIHL scores with 12 points, but his per-game average of 3.0 points leads all skaters by a wide margin. Offseason transfer Hayden Guilderson has adjusted quickly to life with the Langley-based team and has two goals and seven points in four contests, while blueliners Dustin Deugau and Travis Verveda sit second and third in league scoring by defencemen with seven and six points respectively.

The Clan currently sit in fifth place in the BCIHL standings but have played just four regular season games in comparison with VIU, UVic and Selkirk, who have all played nine times. 

Mac Colasimone has emerged as a go-to-threat in his second season at SFU, and currently leads all Clan scorers with three goals and eight points. First-year forward Trevor Ayre has been a key playmaker and has six assists and seven points in four games.

The Clan have gone with a three-way competition between the crease, as Junior A recruit Andrew Henderson, Selkirk transfer Patrick Zubick and returning starter Michael Lenko are all battling for starts. Henderson is the only one of the group with multiple appearances to date this season, and his numbers (1.51 GAA, .945 SV%) appear to place him at the head of the pack early on.

Puck drop on Saturday from the Bill Copeland Sports Centre is set for 7:00 PM and the game can be viewed live on Hockey TV.