Four-goal first period sinks Eagles in road loss to Trinity Western

The Trinity Western Spartans defeated Eastern Washington University by a 6-0 score in BCIHL action at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. on Thursday night.

The victory puts TWU on top of the standings at 8-2, while the loss keeps EWU winless at 0-11.

“We have been talking about making the most of the games that we had in hand and not wasting opportunities,” commented TWU head coach Barret Kropf. “The first twenty minutes the guys came out and skated hard and got out to a quick start. We have had that now for about four games where we have gotten on the board first and continued to roll. So that was good to see.”

“We started to see some bad habits creep in in the second and third periods. It is tough as there wasn’t a lot of emotion or intensity in the game,” added Kropf. “Overall it was a game that we did what we had to do to get the win. But tomorrow is a big game and we need to make sure that it is a full 60 minute effort.”

TWU’s Silas Matthys made 25 saves to earn the shutout win. EWU split the goaltending duties between Austin Brihn, who took and the loss and gave up four goals in 20 minutes, and Tyler O’Donnell who gave up two goals in 40 minutes.

The Spartans' Florian Niedermaier led TWU in scoring with two goals, while Dawson Sawatzky (Calgary) and Kaleb Denham each had a goal and an assist each. Evan Last led the point parade with three assists on the night.

Sawatzky opened the scoring at 8:38, with assists going to Cody Stephenson and Dirk de Waal. De Waal got his first of the season at 9:26 with assists to Swatzky and Jacob Mills. Niedermaier got his two goals to finish off the first period with TWU up 4-0. His first at 15:51 was assisted by Brett Wur and Andrew Wheeler. His second came on the power play with assists going to Jamey Kreller and Evan Last.

Jarret Fontaine put TWU up 5-0 at 4:36 of the second period, with assists going to Last and Denham. In the third period Denham made the final 6-0 with assists going to Last and Kreller.

The Spartans will now finish off the home half of the season against the Selkirk Saints on Friday at the Langley Events Centre. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM PST.

TWU has three more games before the Christmas break.

Game Notes: Eastern Washington has now been outscored 70-17 this season in league action…TWU has a league leading 1.50 goals against average… TWU was 1-5 on the power play, while EWU was 0-5…the three stars were Niedermaier, Matthys and Sawatzky…