Trinity Western offence explodes in opening night victory over Vikes

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Trinity Western University got off to an impressive start to its 2014-15 BCIHL campaign, racing out of the gates to 9-3 road win over Victoria in the Spartans season-opener Friday at the Ian Stewart Complex.

Newly minted captain Blair Murphy (Surrey, B.C.) got the Spartans on the board less than four minutes into the first period and then Jamie Russell (Surrey) added a second before the end of the opening frame to help launch a TWU goal barrage that hasn’t been seen since 2010. The last time the Spartans scored nine goals in one game was Nov. 27, 2010 when they beat Selkirk 9-1.

After Victoria closed within one goal early in the second period, the Spartans found their offensive groove, pumping in four more goals before the end of the middle stanza. In the third TWU added three more while Victoria countered with two as the Spartans cruised to its most lopsided win since knocking off Selkirk nearly four years ago.

Last year’s leading scorer JP Villeneuve (Georgetown, Ont.) put up a hat-trick plus an assist to lead TWU while six others collected two points each. Beyond Murphy, Russell and Villeneuve, TWU also got goals from Cody Fidgett (Richmond, B.C.), Cody Stephenson (Aldergrove, B.C.), Micah Cockrill (Chilliwack, B.C.) and Florian Niedermaier (Davos, Switzerland).

Victoria countered with goals from Cody Mueller, James Tindle and Evan Warner.

Spartans goalie Silas Matthys (Wollerau, Switzerland) made 27 saves in the win while the Vikes Nick Babich stopped 24 of the 30 shots he faced before being replaced in the third period by Jeremy Mousseau, who made five saves on eight shots.

“It was a solid 60-minute effort,” said Spartans coach Barret Kropf. “Our special teams were special when they needed to be. I thought that the power play was really clicking and we got some momentum going with that and the PK guys were doing what they needed to do.

“From our goaltending on our through our whole lineup, we had some great efforts. We wanted to stress that we want to build good habits and it was great to see all 20 men put in a good effort to get this result.”

Murphy got the ball rolling early for TWU and the Spartans never slowed. The Spartans took full advantage of their power play opportunities, scoring on three of four chances. The Spartans also only allowed one goal on six Victoria power plays. The Spartans outshot Victoria 39-30.

TWU and Victoria are back on the ice Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at the Ian Stewart Complex. The Spartans have never started a BCIHL regular season with two wins in a row.