LANGLEY, BC – Trinity Western's men's rugby team lost 45-11 against visiting Van East Rugby in the Spartans home-opener Friday in Coastal Cup action at Willoughby Community Park. 

Lynden Duggan (Burnaby, B.C.) scored the lone try for the Spartans, while Keegan Marengo (Johannesburg, South Africa) slotted a pair of penalties to add to the TWU cause. 

The Spartans are now 0-2 in the inaugural season of the Coastal Cup, having dropped their season-opener to UBC last weekend in Vancouver. 

AS IT HAPPENED
The Van East men, who are largely made up of players from the Burnaby Lake Rugby Club, opened the scoring with an early penalty before Marengo slotted back-to-back penalties to give TWU its first lead of the Coastal Cup competition, at 6-3. 

However, after that, Van East took over on the scoreboard. An unconverted try made it 8-6 for the visitors and from there, Van East eventually tallied 42 straight points before Duggan dotted down on the final play of the game to push TWU into double-digits. 
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Andrew Evans 
"I thought we started the game quite well, but about 10 minutes in, we had an opportunity to kick for points, but we decided to kick to the corner and we gave Van East the ball back and from that moment on, I felt that we lost composure. We also took a lot of penalties. Our men are so hungry and so eager that it's a challenge for us to control that. I think Van East's experience really came through tonight and they played the way they wanted to play and we fell right into their hands. Aaron O'Flaherty did a great job preparing for us and I think he coached a perfect game against us. 

"Isaiah de Peiza (Edmonton) stood out for me when he came on and got us on the front foot and helped set up a team try for Lynden Duggan at the end. Our men are extremely passionate and I think the biggest challenge for them is to cover a massive experience gap against these other teams. It's not an excuse. That's the reality of the challenge we have in this competition and our men our up for it and they want it bad. 

"I think our set piece improved since the UBC game. Grayson Hardie (Chilliwack, B.C.) and Kyle Morfitt (Langley) came on in the front row and did well and Favour Olaniyan (Gibsons, B.C.) is new to tighthead and I thought he fronted up really well. 

"I need to coach better and I need to prepare these players better and give them all the things they need to win on the pitch."

NOTABLE 
•    The Spartans were playing without star centre and Canadian international Guiseppe du Toit, who was out with an injury after scoring both tries for TWU against UBC last week. 
•    The Spartans last home game was Feb. 14, 2019 when TWU hosted then No. 13-ranked Central Washington University, losing 76-10.

NEXT UP
The Spartans will now prepare to play the Vancouver Wave Oct. 16 (12:30 p.m.) at the Gerald McGavin Centre on the UBC campus.

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 29 Canada West team championships.

-TW-