Men’s Hockey
Aided by five different goal scorers, the Spartans men’s hockey team earned a 5-3 victory over the Victoria Vikes Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.
The Spartans winning streak (12) is the longest to open the season in the BCIHL since Selkirk won 13 consecutive in 2012-13.
Logan Casavant (Melfort, Sask.), Jordan Bogress (Ladner, B.C.), Evan Last (Surrey, B.C.), Elijah Vilio (Aldergrove, B.C.) and Kade Vilio (Aldergrove) all scored for TWU (12-0-0-0), while Lucas Mills (Burnaby) made 28 saves for his eighth win in as many games.
Carter Huber, David Stickney and Otis Goldman scored for fifth-place Victoria (4-10-0-1), with goaltender Tyler Rennie making 39 saves.
Victoria’s powerplay struggles were the story of the first period, as Dustin Deugau (Calgary), Tyler McMinn (Wilsall, Mont.) and Spencer Gerth (Langley) all committed minor penalties for TWU. Despite the opportunities, the Spartans league best penalty kill was able to keep the game scoreless after the opening frame.
Casvant got TWU on the board 22 seconds into the second period, wiring a Jarret Fontaine (Humboldt, Sask.) feed from the slot to make it 1-0. The Vikes then responded on the powerplay exactly two minutes later, with Durrance beating Mills on a wrist shot to make it 1-1.
Less than three minutes later TWU regained their lead, as Bogress deflected a feed from former Victoria forward Hayden Guilderson (Chilliwack, B.C.) to make it 2-2.
The Vikes once again responded later in the period however, as Stickney beat Mills on an odd man rush with 8:06 remaining to tie the game up at 2-2. TWU closed out the second period with a 33-19 advantage in shots.
The Spartans regained their lead in the third period after Last deflected a Travis Verveda (Alix, Alta.) shot just 1:14 into the final frame.
Six minutes later the Spartans added another on the man advantage, with Brandon Potomak (Aldergrove, B.C.) faking a shot at the blueline before finding Elijah Vilio who scored on the open net to make it 4-2 TWU.
With 1:21 left the in the game Victoria scored with an extra attacker, as Goldman’s shot in the slot hitting the crossbar before finding its way past Mills.
That would be it however, as Kade Vilio added an empty netter in the final second to give the Spartans their 12th consecutive win.
Track and Field
Trinity Western’s fourth-year Jennifer Kits (Langley, B.C.) finished fourth in the 1500m, while first-year Josh Woolgar (Ladner, B.C.) was fifth in the 1500m, as the duo led the Spartans on the second day of the Sanderson Open Saturday at the Saskatoon Fieldhouse.
Kits ran a time of 4:44.35 in the opening meet of the season, which significantly betters the 4:48.36 time she posted in finishing seventh at last year’s Canada West championships.
Trinity Western’s fourth-year Jennifer Kits (Langley, B.C.) finished fourth in the 1500m, while first-year Josh Woolgar (Ladner, B.C.) was fifth in the 1500m, as the duo led the Spartans on the second day of the Sanderson Open Saturday at the Saskatoon Fieldhouse.
Kits ran a time of 4:44.35 in the opening meet of the season, which significantly betters the 4:48.36 time she posted in finishing seventh at last year’s Canada West championships.
After winning the 3000m in his first-ever university-level indoor race Friday, Woolgar put together a personal best 3:59.69, going under four minutes for the first time in his career in the 1500m.
After winning the 3000m in his first-ever university-level indoor race Friday, Woolgar put together a personal best 3:59.69, going under four minutes for the first time in his career in the 1500m.
Women’s Volleyball
Two nights in a row wasn’t in the plans for the Spartans Saturday, falling 3-1 to No. 5 ranked Mount Royal at the Langley Events Centre.
It was the Spartans first ever loss to Mount Royal, with their previously perfect record falling to 19-1 dating back to 2013.
With win Mount Royal (12-2) closes in just two wins back of first place TWU (14-2) in the Canada West Standings.
Hilary Howe (Calgary) contributed seven kills and five digs for TWU, while Ansah Odoom (Surrey, B.C.) and Savannah Purdy (Victoria, B.C.) each added six kills for the Spartans.
Nyadholi Thokbuom once again led the Cougars attack with a game-high nine kills, while Chantel Park contributed five kills and a game-high four service aces.
Mount Royal opened the first set strong at 7-2 and kept rolling, holding the Spartans to 16 points and taking the set 25-16. The Cougars hit .538 in the set compared to TWU’s .032, with just one error on 26 attempts. Near the end of the first set, Mount Royal outside Madison Marshall went down with an injury.
The second set saw TWU build some momentum, going up 15-4 early and not looking back. The Spartans took the set 25-14, and improved their hitting from .032 in the first to .182 in the second. Mount Royal meanwhile regressed to hit -.087 in the second.
The Spartans kept rolling in the third by going up 17-7. Mount Royal however came storming back, accounting for 12 of the next 13 points to take a 19-18 lead. After both teams traded points, the Cougars would hang on to win the third set 26-24. TWU hit .044 (13-11-45) in the third set while Mount Royal hit .162 (12-6-37).
The Cougars went up 7-1 early into the fourth set and never looked back, ultimately taking the fourth and final set 25-17 over the first place Spartans. With the win, Mount Royal move two wins back of first place TWU in the Canada West standings.
Mount Royal hit .261 compared to TWU’s .083 in the game, with the Spartans holding an 14-11 edge in service aces. TWU also accounted for 29 errors in the match as opposed to 18 for Mount Royal.
Men’s Volleyball
Trinity Western fourth-year star left side Eric Loeppky (Steinbach, Man.) had 19 kills to lead the No. 1-ranked Spartans to a 3-2 (25-13, 25-27, 27-25, 21-25, 15-11) win over Mount Royal Saturday afternoon at the Langley Events Centre.
Loeppky finished the night hitting .500 (19-2-34), while adding three aces and eight digs as TWU improved to 13-1 on the season.
The win secured TWU’s 12th straight victory. The loss dropped MRU to 4-10 on the season.
Setter Derek Epp (Saskaton) led the Spartans with a match-high 47 assists to guide the Spartans to a .313 hitting percentage. Pearce Eshenko (Banff, Alta.) had a match-high seven blocks, while Brodie Hofer (Langley) added four aces.
The Cougars were led offensively by Trent Mounter, who had 19 kills, while Paul Dionne had 11 kills. Paul Dionne had a match-high five aces. The Cougars hit .216 as a team, with Keal Prince putting up 42 assists.
On the strength of a Hofer serving run, the Spartans opened the contest with a 7-1 run and rolled to a convincing first-set win. Hitting .667 (13-1-18) as a team with just one attacking error, TWU ran away with a 12-point win. MRU hit -.100 as a team (4-6-20).
The Cougars jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set and held a 14-11 edge before TWU started clawing back. The Spartans pushed ahead 24-20, but a no-quit MRU side roared back with a 7-1 run to win the set and even the match. The Cougars hit .600 (14-2-20) in the set compared to TWU’s .241 (12-5-29). Mounter had seven kills in the second set alone.
In the third, TWU took a 15-11 lead only to see MRU respond, slowly closing the gap before a Jace Martin ace put the Cougars up 24-23. However, this time TWU turned the tables late, coming back to earn a 27-25 win.
Through three sets, Mounter had 14 kills while TWU’s Loeppky had 12 kills.
The Cougars opened a 13-7 lead in the fourth set after a kill from Jace Timmer. Holding TWU to a .174 hitting percentage, the Cougars held a lead throughout, taking the set with a kill from Martin.
MRU took a 6-4 lead in the fifth set, but a 4-1 run by the home side gave the Spartans an 8-7 lead at the turn. TWU never trailed the rest of the way. On their second chance at match point, the Spartans took the win after an MRU serving error.
Men’s Basketball
Despite another big night from Ja’Qualyn Gilbreath, the Spartans men’s basketball team fell 124-94 against UBC at the War Memorial Gymnasium.
Gilbreath (Amarillo, Tex.), who was coming off a triple-double in Thursday’s loss to UBC, scored 34 points to lead the Spartans offensively. It was the seventh time this season the fourth-year guard has surpassed the 30-point mark in a regular season game.
Jadon Cohee had a team-high 21 points for UBC, while Grant Shephard added 19 for the home side.
The loss drops TWU to 2-10 on the season, while the win improves UBC to 11-3.
An early dunk from Grant Audu gave UBC an early 14-6 lead in the first quarter, but Gilbreath responded with a steal and a breakaway dunk of his own. Jack Nadelhoffer (Tigard, Ore.) cut the deficit to two with a three at 16-14 before the Thunderbirds went on a 10-0 run as UBC ended the first quarter up 29-18.
Cohee hit a fading jumper as the shot clock expired early in the second quarter to then put UBC up 36-23. TWU chipped away as the third quarter progressed and a Gilbreath dunk made it 51-40, but Cohee connected on three free throws to send the UBC into halftime up 54-41.
Shephard opened the second half with his third dunk of the game on an alley-oop. Lincoln Rosebush subbed in for Shephard after the big man took his fourth personal foul, and the second-year forward picked up right where Shephard left off with a hard take to the rim at 83-58. Gilbreath then closed out the third quarter emphatically, banking in a 3-pointer from the logo at the buzzer to close out the quarter with TWU down 96-73.
The Thunderbirds continued to outpace the Spartans in the final frame and utilized their bench to secure the 124-94 win on home court.
Women’s Basketball
For the second time in as many nights the Spartans women’s basketball team fell to cross-town rival UBC, losing 100-57 on the road Saturday at the War Memorial Gymnasium.
TWU (3-9) dropped its fourth consecutive game with the loss, while UBC (10-4) earned its eighth win over its last nine outings.
Kianna
Wiens (Regina, Sask.) had a team high 15 points for TWU while Jolene
Vlieg (Leduc, Alta.) added 12 points and Jayden Gill (Abbotsford, B.C.)
put up 10 points. The Thunderbirds meanwhile had six players reaching double figures to hit the century mark, as Jessica
Hanson had a game high 24 points followed by Keylyn
Filewich’s double double of 23 points and 14 rebounds.
After the
Spartans traded early buckets with the Thunderbirds, UBC created
separation thanks to Filewich successfully completing a three-point play
to give the hosts a 17-10 lead. Much like the previous night it was
Wiens who
stood out for TWU, hitting a jumper as part of her scoring nine of the
squad’s first 12 points to trail 17-12 before Counsel responded with a
three-pointer to put UBC up 20-12.
The
second quarter saw UBC use a balanced attack to outscore the Spartans
22-15 and take a 48-27 lead into halftime. Johnson led the way for the
T-Birds with six points followed by Filewich and Penn adding five
points each. For TWU it was Gill and Kailey Reimer (Abbotsford, B.C.)
with a team high four points each.
Coming out of
the break UBC continued to execute while both teams hit from long range.
Hanson had a quarter-high 11 points thanks in part to stroking two more
three-pointers improving to three for three from long range to give
UBC a 68-35 lead. Counsel counted another three-pointer for the
Thunderbirds before back-to-back buckets from downtown from Reimer and
Julia Marshal (Langley, B.C.)l for the Spartans to trail 71-41.
To close out the fourth quarter Filewich and Metcalfe recorded six points each for UBC who shot an efficient 50 percent from the field on the night in securing the record the win.
