by Austin Cozicar

BURNABY, BC — Goaltender Andrew Henderson brought his A-game Saturday night, saving 57 of 61 shots (.934 SV%), en route to a 5-4 shootout victory for SFU over the Trinity Western University Spartans.

“A lot of bounces went my way tonight,” said Henderson. “For the most part, I felt real good, like I felt every puck coming my way, it was either going to hit me, or hit somebody else.”

Henderson was also perfect in the said shootout, and Takato Cox — who also scored the game’s first goal — scored the only goal of the shootout.

But it was perhaps more of an exciting finish than SFU expected heading into the third.

Cox, Jacob Lacasse, Arjun Badh, and Mac Colasimone each found the back of the net, putting SFU up 4-0 after the first two frames, despite being outshot 37-17.

Trinity Western ramped up the pressure in the third, and Elijah Vilio got them on the scoreboard 8:33 into the third on the power play. Brayden Brown put them within with 6:17 left in regulation.

With the net empty, Travis Verveda scored TWU’s third goal with just 16.4 seconds left, while Jarrett Fontaine tied up the game with 4.1 seconds on the clock.

Henderson stood on his head in overtime, making six solid saves to force the shootout.

“You’re always going to look at the positives after a game like this. We took four points from the best team in the league, we’re rolling on a five game win streak and we’re doing all the good things we have to do,” said head coach Mark Coletta. “Henderson was unbelievable and what can you say about Takato Cox’s goal in the shootout. We’ve got a lot of skilled guys, we’ve just got to put it together for 60.”

The game marked back-to-back wins against a Trinity Western team, that prior to the weekend series was undefeated in regular season action. (SFU beat them 5-3 in pre-season action).

Now on a five game winning streak, SFU pulls into sole possession of second place after Vancouver Island University’s 8-2 loss to UVic on Friday. SFU has 20 points and a 9-5-2 record in 16 games, while VIU has 18 points and 8-6-2 record also with 16 games played.

SFU next faces the Selkirk College Saints at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre on Saturday. The Saints sit seven points behind SFU, and are 1-6-3 in their last 10 games.

Three Stars:
1st Star: SFU #30 Andrew Henderson (57 Saves, .934 SV%)
2nd Star: SFU #10 Takato Cox (1G, 1A, Shootout Winner)
3rd Star: SFU #9 Mac Colasimone (1G, 1A)