Four-goal explosion in second period lifts TWU to home win over Vikes

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Trinity Western University exploded for four second-period goals to run away with a 6-2 win over the University of Victoria on Friday night at the Langley Events Centre.

After taking a 2-1 lead into the first intermission, TWU scored four goals in just over 10 minutes in the second period to open a five-goal lead.

With the game well in hand, TWU put together a defensive effort in the third period, cruising to the win and improving its record to 9-5-0-1.

The Vikes (5-10-0-1) have now lost three in a row since opening the second semester with a two-game weekend sweep of the Spartans. PJ Buys and Dirk de Waal each scored twice while Buys also added an assist to lead TWU.

Brett Wur and Blair Murphy also scored for the Spartans while Mattias Schmitt and Ryan Bakken each had two-assist efforts.

Cameron Rowat and Shawn Mueller replied with goals for the Vikes. Aaron Oakley made 31 saves to earn the win while Zack Wear stopped 13 of 17 shots in the loss before Scott Legault, who made 19 saves, took over midway through the second period.

The Spartans power play, which was working at 10.6 per cent coming into the game, scored twice on four opportunities.

“I think our first 10 minutes were really strong and I think we thought too much of ourselves in the second 10 minutes of the first,” said Spartans coach Barret Kropf.

“We reminded guys to keep things simple and do things the right way. The second period was one of our better ones in the last few weeks. We were able to get the power play going, which is a confidence boost for a few of the guys. For the third, we just wanted to work on a few things in terms of shutting teams down and really plugged up the middle. It was a good all-around effort."

“I also think Oakes did a great job coming in and made a few key saves when he needed to in the second period and was solid overall.”

Murphy opened the scoring at 1:50 of the first period, before the Rowat and de Waal traded goals partway through the first period. In the second, Wur scored at 1:18 to start the barrage.

Buys then tallied twice, with his second coming on the power play, before de Waal scored to make it 6-1 with the man-advantage. The Vikes' Mueller scored less than three minutes into the third period to round out the scoring.

The Spartans will now prepare for an exhibition contest against EC Red Bull Salzburg’s Red Bull Hockey Series (U20) team Saturday at 9 p.m. at the Queen’s Park Arena in New Westminster, B.C.

TWU returns to BCIHL action Jan. 29-30 when it will travel to play Selkirk and Eastern Washington.

Game Notes: Second-year TWU defenseman Karsten Seidel tallied his first assist in a Spartans uniform, helping out on de Waal’s first goal…The Spartans are back at home Feb. 5 when they will host Simon Fraser.