WolfPack look to rebound from weekend sweep with Spartans coming to town

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Thompson Rivers University will be back on home ice this Saturday to face off against the Trinity Western University Spartans. Puck drop is set for 8:00 pm at Kamloops Memorial Arena.

The ‘Pack put on a good show for fans during their last home game, controlling the first two periods of a 5-2 victory when the University of Victoria was in town two weekends ago. TRU is hoping for a similar success story on Saturday.

In order to accomplish that goal, TRU is going to have to bounce back from a lackluster weekend on the road in Castlegar.

TRU has a tendency to play better hockey in front of a home crowd than on the road according to head coach Don Schulz.

"Over the weekend the competition level and battle quotients were not sufficient," says Schulz. "We lacked composure and had trouble with penalty killing and as a result got beat on the power play late in the game. The guys need to learn to work hard and push through adversity."

The team addressed work ethic and conditioning to sustain an appropriate pace for a full 60 minutes of game play. Penalty kill tactics, defensive zone work and battle drills have all been part of practices this week for the ‘Pack.

Schulz said that after an extra hard week of practice it is the team's plan and intention to come out strong and have another positive showing on home ice.

The team will have four players out of commission for the game Saturday. Kevin Neilsen is out with a lower body injury while Lucas Daoust, John Bokla and Brennan Wright are all suffering from upper body injuries.

The hope is to see Shane Mainprize between the posts, but because he is nursing a bit of an injury Schulz was unsure what his final decision was going to be. If Mainprize is unavailable, Riley Wall will get another start.

TWU is currently sitting in last place in the BCIHL standings with a 0-5-0-0 record. TRU hopes to keep their win column at zero.

"We have to eat a big piece of humble pie after getting shellacked, and the way we played last weekend, taking Trinity lightly is the least of our worries,” said Schulz.

Come out and back the ‘Pack at Memorial Arena as Thompson Rivers University closes out their October schedule on home ice.