Spartans hand SFU first shutout since 2006 in huge home win

Trinity Western University goalie John-Paul Chapman put up an impenetrable wall between the pipes Friday night as he led the Spartans to a 3-0 win over the BCIHL-leading Simon Fraser Clan at the Langley Events Centre.

Chapman stopped 35 shots en route to the Spartans first shutout of the year and it was also the first time in more than four years that SFU has been goose-egged. Ian Spencer got the Spartans on the board in the first two minutes of the first period and, despite the home team being outshot 35-25 overall, TWU never looked back as they earned the three-goal victory and snapped a four-game losing streak.

“Any win is a good win but this one you want to savour,” said TWU coach Dwayne Lowdermilk. “We played a 60-minute game and you can’t ask for any more. We worked on our power play all week and it was ticking. It was just a great overall game.

“We moved our feet and we got on top of the puck as fast as we could and the defence played a solid game. JP was outstanding. He was in the zone and ready to play. After the last game [a 4-1 loss to SFU], everybody was ready to play and said that we were going to do it.”

The win is the Spartans first victory over Simon Fraser all year, as the Clan had won the previous three meetings, and it improved TWU’s record to 7-10-1. The loss drops SFU’s record to 13-4-2 on the year.

With the Spartans struggling to put pucks in the net all year, especially against SFU – they had scored just one goal in each of their first three outings this year against the Clan – it was a refreshing start for TWU when they got the early lead after Spencer buried a rebound off of a Trevor Edwards shot from the bottom of the right side circle. Brenden Stephen also had an assist.

From there, the Clan replied with a strong offensive push as they had outshot TWU 13-8 by the end of the period, but Chapman was good on all 13 shots and the Spartans maintained their 1-0 lead going into the middle frame. And less than five minutes into the second, the Spartans got a much-needed second goal when, after receiving a pass from Scott Holmes to spring a 2-on-1, Robert Vos fed Curtis Martin, who quickly buried a wrist shot from the right side that beat SFU goalie Justin Mulholland past his blocker.

With the Clan responding with a strong attack, midway through the second period, Chapman made his best stop of the night when he robbed SFU’s Jaime Laprise with a glove save from his backside as the Clan’s leading goal scorer was unable to bury the puck into a gaping net.

Then with 7:30 left in the second period, the Spartans Vos gave his team a three-goal cushion when he blasted a shot past Mulholland from the high slot on a 5-on-3 power play. It was Vos’ first goal since a two-goal effort against Selkirk Nov. 27. Sam Gemmell and Josh Stephenson had assists.

 From then on, TWU did well to limit SFU’s scoring chances as they hung on – with third period help from a steady Chapman – for the three-goal victory.

Three Stars 1st – John-Paul Chapman – Trinity Western; 2nd – Robert Vos – Trinity Western; 3rd – Josh Stephenson – Trinity Western.

NOTES: The Spartans finished with 16 penalty minutes to SFU’s 18…The power went out in the arena with 5:13 left in the first period sending the team’s to their dressing rooms and forced them to played the remaining 5:13 and the second period in one chunk after the power returned.