LANGLEY, British Columbia – In a battle for first place in the Pacific Division, No. 2 Trinity Western came out on top with a 3-2 win over No. 9 Fraser Valley Friday at Chase Office Field.

The Spartans went up 3-1 with a 69th-minute goal from Isabella Di Trocchio (Burnaby, B.C.) and while the Cascades Amanda Carruthers got the visitors to within one with a goal in the 72nd minute, TWU held off a late-game push to earn their eighth win of the season.

Di Trocchio took a pass from Seina Kashima (Burnaby) and slotted it to the bottom right corner for her sixth goal of the year and fourth game-winner.

TWU (8-0-2) is now unbeaten in 21 games, dating back to 2015. The Spartans are also now six points clear of UFV (6-2-2) for first place in the Pacific Division. Both of the Cascades losses have come against the Spartans.

TWU's Brooklyn Tidder (White Rock, B.C.) headed home a corner to open the scoring midway through the first half before the Cascades Danica Kump equalised just before halftime. The Spartans Steph Chin (Calgary) put TWU ahead in the 61st minute when she converted a penalty.

"It was a really exciting game and I was pleased with how we played," said Spartans coach Graham Roxburgh. "It was a bit of a disappointing goal to allow late in the first half, but I was really proud of how my players responded in the second half. I thought we were really sharp and really intelligent in the first 30 minutes of the second half and we were rewarded with a pair of goals.

"We want to take every game one at a time and figure out how we can get better in the next game and I thought we took a great step forward tonight."

Ally Williamson (Langley) made four saves in the win while Kayla Klim stopped three shots for UFV.

The Cascades pushed to tie the game late, but the Spartans defenders were up to the task.

In the 85th minute, UFV had a close call off a corner, but with the ball loose in the box, the Cascades were whistled for a foul.

"We trained really well this week and for the last couple of weeks," said Spartans coach Graham Roxburgh. "I think some of the girls have started to understand how to play together with a few new players in the lineup. I think we're just starting to click and this is the right time to start feeling good about ourselves. This is a massive win and a massive boost in confidence but we won't get ahead of ourselves because we have a big weekend next weekend."

The Spartans are back on the pitch Oct. 14 when they travel to play UBC at 5 p.m. (PT). The Cascades are also on the road Oct. 14, when they take on Victoria at 5 p.m. (PT).

Game Notes: Prior to Friday's game the Spartans had only allowed two goals in its first nine games…UFV has scored three of the four goals TWU has given up this year…UBC is the only other team to find the back of the net against the Spartans.

-TW-