Spartans open 2016 BCIHL playoffs with road win, push Clan to the brink

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Trinity Western University opened their B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League postseason with an impressive 6-3 win over the No. 2 Simon Fraser University Clan.

The win gives the Spartans a 1-0 lead in the best of three opening semi-final. Game two is played Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at George Preston Arena in Langley, B.C.

“I thought that our special teams played really well tonight. Our power play was 50 percent, and our penalty kill was 80 percent,” commented TWU head coach Barret Kropf. “Overall it was a great effort by our guys. A full team effort, which is nice to see against SFU as they continue to work hard we will look to wrap this up tomorrow night in Langley.”

“I thought Schmitty’s shorthanded goal in the second period was great. And Mills jumping in with the power play marker was well timed for us.”

The Spartans were outshot 36-18 by the Clan, but TWU’s Silas Matthys was a standout for the Spartans as he made 33 saves to secure the Game 1 win for TWU.

The Clan’s Jordan Liem had a bit of a tough night for SFU as he was only able to stop 13 of the 17 shots he faced.

The two teams exchanged goals in the opening period with SFU and TWU tied at 2-2 after 20 minutes. TWU’s Cody Stephenson opened the scoring at 4:57 of the first period to give the Spartans the early lead. SFU’s Brendan Lamont tied the game at 8:00 with a shorthanded goal. Ryan Bakken got the Spartans up again with a power play marker at 13:47.

But once again the Clan answered. Just over a minute later Matthew Berry-Lamontagna tied the game up at 2-2 to end the opening frame. The Spartans broke the game open in the second period as TWU’s Florian Niedermaier got the Spartans up for good with a goal at 4:02 of the period.

Mattias Schmitt got the Spartans the eventual game winner with a shorthanded effort with 5:18 left in the second period. SFU’s Brendan Lamont got the Clan within one, 4-3, at 7:28 of the final period. TWU’s Jacob Mills regained the two goal lead for the Spartans at 12:44 with assists going to Blair Murphy and Jamey Kreller.

Florian Niedermaier got his second of the night with an empty net goal with 24 seconds remaining to make the final 6-3 for TWU.

Game Notes: TWU finished going 2 for 6 on the power play, while SFU finished 1 for 8…