Zubick's 46 save lead SFU to third straight win over first place TWU

League-leading Trinity Western University closed out the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League regular season with a 3-2 loss to Simon Fraser University on Friday evening at George Preston Arena.

Evan Last scored his league-leading 16th goal of the season in the loss, while goaltender Lucas Mills made 42 saves for TWU. Logan Casavant also scored for the Spartans.

Despite the result, TWU finished the season with its second-best regular season record at 19-4-0-1. The Spartans 19 wins were second most in program history, behind only the 21 wins in 25 games set in 2017/18.

"Tonight was exactly what we would have ordered up from the menu," says TWU head coach Barret Kropf. "We were wanting a hard, intense, playoff level game and that’s exactly what we got. Both goaltenders played well, each team worked hard, and it provided us with the things we needed. This game gave us a great showing of the level of intensity we will need to play in the playoffs. We’re a banged up group with some sickness as well, so the bye week will come at a perfect time."

Arjun Badh, Ty Westgard and Domenic Masellis all scored for Simon Fraser (13-7-0-2), while Patrick Zubick picked up 46 saves in the win. The win pushed the Clan four points ahead of third-place Vancouver Island for second in the BCIHL.

Despite a collective 26 first period shots between the two teams, both Zubick and Mills shut the door for a scoreless first. Masellis then broke the scoreless tie just 19 seconds into the second period, beating Mills with a one-timer from the point off a faceoff to make it 1-0. TWU would counter however, as Last scored off his own rebound on the power play at 7:59 to make it 1-1.

Simon Fraser would tally again in the third, with Badh roofing a shot to the right of Mills with just 6:54 left to make it 2-1. Westgard would add another under two minutes left to extend the Clan lead to two goals. Despite a goal from Casavant with 1:09 to play, the Spartans would fall to Simon Fraser in regulation.

TWU finished 1-for-3 (33%) on the man advantage, while Simon Fraser’s power play went 2-for-5 (40%).

"We have a lot to be proud of after a pretty great regular season," says Kropf. "Our guys worked their tails off all year, and while we have lost a few consecutive games to Simon Fraser we knew coming into this year they had possibly the best team in the league. That’s a great hockey team over there, and while they finish up on the Island we can rest on the fact that we get home ice advantage in the playoffs."

TWU was coming off a pair of road victories on the Island last week, defeating Victoria 5-0 Friday before a 5-2 victory against Vancouver Island in their last road trip of the year. Simon Fraser split its home games against fourth-place Selkirk last week.

The Spartans have now lost its last three games to Simon Fraser, as the Clan also broke TWU's 12-game win streak to open the season on Jan. 16 (6-3), before again picking up a win over Trinity Western on Jan. 18 in a shootout (5-4). TWU falls to a 3-2-1 record against Simon Fraser this season.

Trinity Western now enters a bye week, before opening the BCIHL playoffs against either Selkirk College or the University of Victoria on Thursday, March 12th at the Langley Events Centre.