LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western hosted Central Washington at Willoughby Community Park on Thursday night, falling 24-0 to the visiting side.
 
The Spartans defended well in crucial situations, but CWU continued to hem the Spartans back into their defensive third.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
With the ball being kicked off, a CWU knock-on sparked excitement from the Spartan faithful at the park. TWU, who were given a solid opportunity at a try, could not generate any sort of offence in CWU's attacking third.
 
It was one CWU run that set the tone for the remainder of the half. A breakdown of TWU's line allowed the Wildcats to settle into their attack. It didn't take long for the visitors to draw blood as CWU broke in for their first try of the night six minutes into the match.
 
With the home fans seeming to deflate after CWU's early try, a missed conversion by the Wildcats was all it took for the Spartan faithful to have their energy revitalized. The remainder of the first half waged on with two massive hits from Collin Lagat (Dallas, Texas), and numerous try-line stands, giving the Spartans hope at the end of a 5-0 half in favour of the Wildcats.
 
The second half saw the Spartans have few answers for a harsher CWU side. Although the Wildcats had to put up with one try-line stand from the Spartans, the majority of the second half existed in TWU's end as the game rolled to a 24-0 close favouring the visitors.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Andrew Evans
"CWU defended well but overall we let ourselves down, particularly with our catch pass not being tidy enough. I thought we played well for territory in the early minutes but did not capitalize on the field position we were able to gain from some great tactical kicking by our back three and Keegan (Marengo, Johannesburg, South Africa). Josh Halladay (White Rock, B.C.) had some good carries as well, but we didn't have enough continued pressure before turning the ball over to CWU. We were not able to attack with ball in hand on the edges to make life more difficult for the Wildcats.
 
"They have a very good midfield and I thought our inside backs defended them very well, particularly in the first half. Collin Lagat was a standout on defense making some big tackles on their centres and not allowing CWU to break our line, Ethan and Keegan. Our forwards as well as a whole defended very well in the first half and showed great determination for the entire game. CWU had numerous opportunities inside our third and I thought our men defended them all well and limited CWU in many aspects. Josh Halladay had a strong performance with many tackles, some that could be heard all around the pitch.
 
"Our men should be proud of the performance against a strong CWU team. We had some early unfortunate injuries to Genaro and Caleb, who were playing very well. I wish them a speedy recovery. Ultimately, around 55-60 minutes, the time we spent defending slowed us down and provided CWU the opportunities to score against us, however, everyone watching could see the tenacity of our men who played a full 80 minutes. We are grateful for CWU making the trip up to Langley for a great game and would love to host more of our American friends up here in Canada."
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans are set to play Scribes RFC in a B.C. Rugby Division 2 tie on Saturday. The match will be played at Trout Lake Park in Vancouver, B.C.
 
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-