Eight Spartans hit the net in lopsided road win over University of Victoria

Two goals from first-year defenceman Donat Matthys and Joseph Sylvain pushed Trinity Western University to a convincing 10-1 victory over the University of Victoria on Friday at the Ian Stewart Complex.

With the win, the BCIHL-leading Spartans improve to 14-1-0-1 on the season. Last place Victoria’s regular season record falls to 5-12-0-1 with the loss, as they’ve picked up just one win over their last five games.

The Spartans had contributions from eight different goal-scorers, as Evan Last, Tyler McMinn, Josh Sylvain, Jordan Bogress, Kenny Batke  and Dustin Deugau all factored in with goals. Vikes forward Otis Goldman picked up Victoria’s only goal of the game.

Spartans rookie goaltender Isaac LaBelle stopped 20 of 21 shots to earn his fifth win of the season (5-1-0-0). It was his second victory over Victoria, with the first-year also coming out on the winning side Nov. 15, 2019 (6-2 W).

Matthys picked up his first career BCIHL goal with 4:26 remaining in the first period to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. Just over two minutes later Batke added another for the Spartans, receiving a Jarrett Fontaine pass and sliding it past Rennie to make it 2-0.

TWU continued its dominance in the second period, as Last scored on the man advantage just 19 second into the period to stretch the Spartans lead to 3-0. Josh Sylvain and McMinn then added goals midway through the second, before Matthys picked up his second of the game with 6:01 remaining to make it 6-0.

The third period was much of the same, as the Spartans’ league-leading offense continued to pepper the Victoria goaltending. Despite the Vikes changing goaltenders from Tyler Rennie to Daniel Paul, TWU continued to score. Deugau scored just over three minutes into the frame, before Joseph Sylvain added his first of the game with 12:11 remaining. After Otis Goldman got the Vikes on the board midway through the third, TWU got insurance goals from Sylvain and Bogress to close out the game with a 10-1 victory.

Paul made 14 saves on 20 shots, while Rennie stopped 22 of 26 for the Vikes.

"It was one of those games where all the lines were rolling," says TWU head coach Barret Kropf. "The depth really contributed on the scoreboard, with all four lines factoring in on goals. We played a solid 60-minute game, and we used our speed to our advantage on the ice."

"Even some guys that aren’t regularly in the lineup were able to contribute – and that was great to see. Donat factored in a few times, and McMinn had a great game making smart plays on the back-end."

The Spartans now hold a league best +38 goal differential, a +26 goal difference compared to second-place Simon Fraser (+12).

With his goal tonight, TWU forward Evan Last moved past former Simon Fraser forward Jaime Laprise for ninth all-time in BCIHL scoring, as he now stands at 115 career points (39 goals, 76 assists).

It was Spartans forward Joe Sylvain’s second multi-goal game in five outings, as he picked up two goals and two assists. He also scored two goal Jan. 4, 2020 in Selkirk (6-3 W).

The Spartans continue their road swing on Saturday against Vancouver Island University, 7:15 PM at the Nanaimo Ice Centre.