Spartans overpowered on home ice as Selkirk win earns share of first place

Trinity Western University scored in the final minute of the third period, but it was far too little and far too late as Selkirk College earned a convincing 4-1 win over the Spartans on Friday at the Langley Events Centre.

Ryan Edwards, Ashton McLeod, Tyler Kerner and Wade Johnson scored for the Saints, who moved into a first place tie with the Spartans at 8-3-0-0. Both teams are one point ahead of Simon Fraser, who is 7-2-0-1.

Aaron Gruenhage scored with 21 seconds left in the game to break the shutout bid for Selkirk’s Austin Wells, who finished with 26 saves. TWU’s Silas Matthys made 33 saves in the loss.

“The first five minutes, we had some good pace but we didn’t bury our opportunities,” said Spartans coach Barret Kropf. “Then they got one and then a second one and we didn’t want to compete after that."

 "There’s a little bit of concern there because in the past we’ve responded quickly and we didn’t tonight. We carried too many selfish habits over from yesterday’s game and thought it would work. By the time we started to figure the game out, we were down. Our power play wasn’t working and we had to juggle a few things and the next thing you know you lose 4-1.”

Edwards and McLeod scored in the first period to stake the Saints to a 2-0 lead. After a scoreless second period, Kerner put Selkirk up by three early in the third period before Johnson capitalized on a power play with 10:06 to play to give the Saints a 4-0 advantage.

In the waning moments, Gruenhage banged in a rebound to spoil Wells’ shutout attempt. Riley Schmidt and Florian Niedermaier had the assists. TWU is now 2-2 against the Saints this year.

The Spartans were 0 for 4 on the power play while Selkirk was 1 for 4.

TWU is back in action next weekend when they travel to play Selkirk on Friday before a date with Eastern Washington University on Saturday.

Game Notes: The last time Selkirk was in Langley, the Spartans won 2-0…both teams have picked up one win at home and one win on the road in their first four games against each other.