CALGARY – Second-year forward Jake Poole netted a hat trick in the first period to lead the Calgary Dinos men's hockey team to a 6-3 win Trinity Western Friday night at Father David Bauer Arena. 

Poole scored his first two in the first five minutes of the game and Calgary never looked back for the home win.

The win snaps a four-game skid for the Dinos, who played a team not ranked in the U SPORTS Top 10 for the first time this season, moving to 3-3-1. Meanwhile, TWU falls to 0-5.

A scramble in front of the net allowed the Dinos to put one up with what would be Poole's first of the night just two minutes into the first period. Following closely behind, McAuley, Man., native netted his second goal on a loose puck behind Spartans goaltender Leon Sommer, quickly putting the Dinos up 2-0 at the five-minute mark.

"It felt good, our line played well and we got the boys going pretty quick," Poole said. "We played the right way and did everything right, I just got lucky enough to put three in." 

Not long after, the Dinos were sent on a double minor penalty kill, where Christian Lowe took advantage of the power play and got the Spartans on the board to draw things back to 2-1 with just 8:08 gone by.

After some back-and-forth play, it was the Dinos who again scored two quick goals – this time 20 seconds apart – to bust this one open. Poole completed his hat trick at the 17:44 mark, with rookie Dylan Sydor potting his second university goal just 20 seconds later to make it 4-1 Calgary before the first intermission.

The second period was eventful for the TWU netminder, as the Dinos outshot the Spartans 14-4 in the frame, but Sommer managed to keep the Dinos stuck at their 4-1 lead in the 20 minutes.

In the third, it was another quick start for the Dinos when leading goalscorer Colson Gengenbach gained his sixth of the season at the 2:55 mark – an impressive shorthanded tally on a two on one rush.

A Dinos penalty put the Spartans on yet another powerplay, where they optimized their offense as Kade McMillen scored their second goal of the game, shortening the Dinos to a 5-2 lead. 

In the 53th minute, the Dinos extended their lead with a goal from Logan Hauer, who went unassisted after a quick deke around Spartans' defense, before TWU retaliated, gaining the last goal of the game less than two minutes later thanks to Aidan Steinke at 15:31, finalizing the 6-3 win for the Dinos.

"It was nice to get the win after the last couple weeks," Poole said. "We didn't think we had our best game today, so we expect to come out and play to our standard tomorrow."

Added Dinos head coach Mark Howell, "It was really important to get back in the win column after four losses. The Spartans have some quick players. If you give them power play chances, if you give them easy transitions and let them get their speed going, that's going to hurt you."

"We got a little bit loose and sloppy at times, which resulted in penalties and goals against, and we got a little too cute with some plays, which led to turnovers. Our guys know they can be a lot better and play with a lot more structure, so we're looking forward to tomorrow night to put the whole thing together."

The weekend series will wrap up Saturday evening at Father David Bauer Arena with a 6 p.m. puck drop.

-UC-