SFU back in the win column with shutout victory at home over Spartans

Trinity Western University dropped a 3-0 decision to Simon Fraser University at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre on Saturday night. The loss drops the first-place Spartans to a record of 16-4-0-2, while the win moves the Clan up to .500 at 11-11.

“We had our chances in the second half of the game but we were not able to capitalize on some of those opportunities,” commented TWU head coach Barret Kropf.

“Silas played well enough to give us a chance to win, but at the end of the day Simon Fraser has a great team. They have paced themselves and have set themselves up well for the play-offs run. The have the pedigree and now that they are starting to put it together they are going to be a dangerous team down the stretch.”

The Clan had the edge in total shots out shooting the Spartans 40-24 over the 60 minutes of play.

TWU’s Silas Matthys made 37 saves in the loss, while SFU’s Andrew Parent made 24 saves to earn the shut-out victory.

“We have our work cut out for us, but we will get a few guys healthy in the next week or two and lick our wounds and get back at it this week in practice,” added Kropf.

SFU’s opened the scoring at the 3:30 mark of the opening period. Forward Josh McKissock tipped a point shot from Tyler Mah, that TWU’s Silas Matthys was able to get his right leg on. But the puck did not go to the corner and McKissock was able to easily find the back of the open net.

With 46 seconds remaining in the opening frame SFU’s Jono Ceci took a pass from Mike Ball and broke in along the left wing. In alone on the TWU net Ceci lifted the puck over Matthys’ shoulder to give the Clan a 2-0 lead heading into the end of period break.

Simon Fraser’s Tyler Basham got the final goal of the game at the 8:25 mark of the second period. Basham took a pass from Jesse Williamson and went around the TWU net to complete a wraparound goal on the right side to the TWU net.

SFU outshot TWU 13-8 in the final period, but neither team was able to find the back of the net. The Spartans finished the night 0-3 on the power play, while the Clan finished at 0-4.

TWU will be back in Burnaby, B.C. for their next game on Saturday, February 21. Game time at the Bill Copeland Sports Complex is set for 7 p.m.

Game Notes: Having secured top spot in the BCIHL TWU coach Barret Kropf has taken the opportunity to rest a number of key players heading into the post season, most notably PJ Buys, who is second on the team in points with 29 on the season… BCIHL goal scoring leader Cody Fidgett also missed significant time due to skate issues… the Spartans clinched top spot in the BCIHL on Feb 6 in Victoria…