VANCOUVER – The Trinity Western Spartan's opened their 2019 preseason with a 5-3 road loss to the UBC Thunderbirds Friday.
Forward Spencer Roberts (Langley, B.C.) scored two goals for TWU, while Joshua Bruce (Surrey, B.C.) added a late tally of his own in the third period. Spartans goaltender Lucas Mills (Burnaby, B.C.) made 38 saves in the loss.
UBC jumped out to an early lead in the game after forward Austin Glover scored at 6:38 of the first period to make it 1-0. Nearly four minutes later the Thunderbirds pushed their lead to two, when Maxwell James beat Spartans goaltender Mills.
After UBC made it 3-0 courtesy of Carter Popoff, the Spartans retaliated with two quick goals of their own. Roberts scored two goals within 32 seconds of each other midway through the second period to cut the Thunderbirds lead back to one.
After UBC got goals from Quintin Benjafield and Colton Kehler to close out the second, the Spartans opened the third period down 5-2. The game tightened up in the third period, and despite a late Spartans goal from Bruce, TWU's hockey program remains winless against the Thunderbirds (0-4).
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Barrett Kropf
"It was our first games in six months. We could make excuses with some of our key guys out with sickness or injury, but UBC is just as banged up as well having played some tough teams recently. Tonight UBC responded well after we had some quick goals.
"We gained a little bit of confidence halfway through the game with some nice entry plays. But other than that we've got a long ways to go in terms of getting ready over the next three weeks. There were a few nice things to see from some guys tonight. Junior (Mills) was in midseason form so that was great to see. We're walking away with a lot of takeaways from tonight, and things to build on moving forward."
NOTABLE
• Friday's game marked the first time TWU hit the ice since its 2018-19 BCIHL Championship sweep over Vancouver Island (3-2, 9-1).
• The Thunderbirds are coming off a 2018-19 Canada West season in which they fell in three games to Mount Royal in the Canada West Quarter-Finals after a 15-16 regular season record.
• The Spartans and Thunderbirds last met on Sep. 22 2018, where the UBC defeated TWU 6-2 at home.
• The Spartans will join UBC in the Canada West conference next season, as the they launch their 2020-21 U SPORTS campaign.
UP NEXT
The Spartans continue their exhibition play next Saturday (Sep. 21), visiting Simon Fraser. TWU opens the regular season Oct. 12 at home against Vancouver Island University.
About TWU
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in CIS sports. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) in men's hockey and as an independent team in men's rugby. The men's and women's hockey programs will begin playing in Canada West and U SPORTS in 2020-21. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 27 Canada West team championships and two BCIHL championships.
-TW-
