Bogress, Guilderson lift TWU past Vikes, extend win streak to five games

Two goals from Jordan Bogress and Hayden Guilderson, and 20 saves from Isaac LaBelle pushed the Trinity Western Spartans to an 8-1 victory over the University of Victoria Vikes on Saturday afternoon at the Aldergrove Credit Union Community Centre.

The win was TWU’s fifth straight, as their record improves to a BCIHL leading 17-1-0-1 record. The loss drops Victoria to 5-14-0-1.

"We really challenged Victoria to play our style and compete with our speed and discipline," says TWU head coach Barret Kropf. "We knew coming in they are fighting for a playoff spot, so we had to come with the same level of energy. Today was the best display through a full sixty minutes that we used our speed to our advantage."

The Spartans also got goals from Elijah and Trent Vilio, Brayden Brown and Jarrett Fontaine. The lone Vikes goal was scored by Blake Holowaty. LaBelle improved to 6-1-0 on the season and has now surrendered just three goals over his last three games. Tyler Rennie stopped 31 of 36 TWU shots, while Daniel Paul came in relief to stop 16 of 19 in the third period.

Guilderson scored his first of the game game off a wrister to give TWU a 1-0 lead just five minutes into the first. Less than four minutes later he assisted on another, as Elijah Vilio scored on the power play to make it 2-0 in favour of the home side. TWU closed out the first period one more marker, as Trent Vilio scored with 6:32 left in the first to give the Spartans a three-goal lead entering the second period.

The Spartans then got another in the second, as Brown tipped in a Kade Vilio centring pass with 3:39 left in the second to push TWU’s lead to 4-0.

Into the third a pair of Bogress goals at 15:19 and 13:16 then gave the Spartans a convincing 6-0 lead near the midway mark of the period. Holowaty would score with 12:58 left to bring the Vikes to within five, but Spartans captain Fontaine would score less than two minutes later to regain the six-goal differential. Guilderson would add his second of the game with 1:12 left to close out the scoring and give TWU the 8-1 victory.

TWU went 1 for 7 on the power play (14.3%), while Victoria went scoreless on their only opportunity.

"The line of Kade Vilio, Hayden Guilderson and Brayden Brown did a great job of setting the tone early with physical play and we capitalized from there," says Kropf. "Regardless of the scoreboard tonight, we started showing we can play a full game without any bad habits and that’s important to lay as a foundation leading into playoffs."

"We want everyone to be uncomfortable with where they are at on this team," Kropf says of his group's depth. "We have a great rotation of forwards, defenceman and goaltenders and we know that anyone can step in and do a job. Performances late in the season impact what our team looks like in the playoffs, so I like the fact that all throughout our lineup everyone is showing they won’t take a day off."

Former Vikes forward Hayden Guilderson extended his point streak to four games (5 goals, 5 assists) with his second straight multi-goal game Saturday.

The Spartans are 5-0 this season against Victoria and have outscored the VIkes 38-8.

TWU now takes its five-game win streak to the road for a doubleheader against Vancouver Island University next Friday and Saturday at the Nanaimo Ice Centre.