Simon Fraser sweeps Spartans in first round, advances to BCIHL Finals

Trinity Western Spartans was shocked on Friday night in Burnaby, BC as the Simon Fraser Clan defeated the Spartans by a 6-4 score to sweep their best-of-three BCIHL semi-final series 2-0.

The loss eliminates the first place Spartans from further postseason play and ends their season in disappointment.

A strong final period by Simon Fraser proved to be the difference in the game as the Clan rallied with three goals to outscore TWU 3-0 in the final 20 minutes. Despite the Spartans having two full and a partial power play in the final period, while the Clan had a nine second power play, the Spartans were outshot 11-3.

“It’s a disappointing end to a season that had so much promise and potential," says TWU head coach Barret Kropf. "Full credit to Simon Fraser. They brought their ‘A’ game in both games and fed us the same medicine that we gave them last year. They played the underdog role really well."

“I feel bad for guys like seniors (Jake) Harcoff and (Micah) Cockrill who played so hard tonight. I thought Harcoff was unbelievable tonight. He made some great plays and had a fantastic effort. All of our seniors, whether they were playing or not, helped turn our program around and point it in the right direction.”

“Obviously, we wanted to win a championship this year, but getting first place in the regular season is a step forward for our program. Now, hopefully next year we can put all these pieces together and keep building our program.”

“Even though we took one on the chin tonight, we’ll be stronger because of it and I’m looking forward to what that looks like next year,” added Kropf.

Trinity Western’s Silas Matthys made 27 saves on 33 shots in the loss, while Simon Frasers Jordan Liem made 16 saves on 20 shots to earn the win.

The Spartans came out fast in the first period. Jacob Mills opened the scoring at 1:37 of the first off of a rebound from an Andrew Wheeler shot. Trinity Western had a two man advantage five minutes into the first period, but were unable to score. Then just as the second penalty was expiring PJ Buys found the back of the net at 7:59 of the first period. Assists went to Cody Fidgett and Mattias Schmitt.

SFU got to within one goal when they used their five-on-three to make it 2-1 at 10:14 on a goal by Jono Ceci, with assists to Mike Ball and Nick Sandor. The shots were 10-10 after the first period with TWU up 2-1 on the scoreboard.

Simon Fraser got even quickly to start the second on goal by Trent Murdoch at :57, with assists to Mathew Berry-Lamontagna. The Spartans' Blair Murphy put the Spartans up 3-2 at 5:08 with a fine individual effort. Murphy broke up the left wing and went high to beat SFU’s LIem.

The Clan once again took advantage of the power play as Trent Murdoch went high from short range to tie the game at 3-3 at 8:43. The Spartans Ryan Bakken was sent in alone by Brett Wur at 12:42 of the second. Bakken made a fine move on the breakaway to give TWU back the one goal lead at 4-3. The period would end with the Spartans up 4-3 and the Clan holding a 22-17 edge in shots on goal.

SFU got the tying goal at 5:01 of the final frame when Adam Callegari made it 4-4, with an assist from Trent Murdoch. Just over a minute later the Spartans found themselves trailing for the first time all night when Jesse Mysiorek scored at 6:15 of the third.

The Clan’s Nick Sandor got the insurance marker at 9:59 when he converted a pass from Jono Ceci to make the final 6-4 for SFU.

SFU advances to the BCIHL quarter final against the winner of Selkirk and Victoria.

Game Notes: the Spartans finished the night 1-6 on the power play, while the Clan finished 2-5…both teams had a two man advantage power play in the opening period…TWU had their most successful regular season in the BCIHL finishing at 17-5-0-2…SFU finished in fourth at 12-12-0-0…last season the 10-13-0-1 Spartans defeated the 19-3-0-2 Clan to advance…