LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western hosted UBC at the Langley Events Centre on Friday night, falling 4-1 at the hands of the visitors.
Rookie goaltender
Kate Fawcett (Tottenham, Ont.) kept the Spartans (2-17-0) within reach of the Thunderbirds (12-5-0), but the visitors could not be held back in their twelfth victory of the 2021-22 season.
Fawcett's 40-save night was a major highlight alongside
Olivia Leier's (Regina) power play marker, tying the game at 1-1 early in the second period.
UBC's MacKenzie Kordic took home the night's first star, potting two goals to lift the visitors to victory.
AS IT HAPPENED
A large portion of the first period saw the Spartans fall back into their zone at Fawcett stood tall, stopping 15 of 16 shots on the period. Kordic was the first to draw blood on Friday, beating Fawcett halfway through the first 20 minutes of play to give the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead heading into the intermission.
With TWU on their heels after the first period, one of four UBC penalties on the night gave the home team's power play an opportunity to get going.
Olivia Leier made no mistake, receiving the puck from
Brooklyn Anderson (Shellbrook, Sask.) on the right-wing, then putting it home for TWU's only goal of the night.
Leier's goal was the only motivation the Thunderbirds needed as the visitors scored three unanswered goals to finish the second period.
A scoreless third period would result in a 4-1 victory for UBC.
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Jean Laforest
"It was 1-0 after one period and a scoreless third period. UBC's damage was in the second period, where they scored three goals. A 4-1 loss against a top three team isn't horrible, but I thought we were just okay tonight. We needed to be great to beat this team tonight. Am I disappointed with the score? No, I just know we didn't play to the level we know we can play at. Tomorrow, our challenge is to elevate ourselves. We weren't dominated by them, and that is something that has happened against this team before, but this was a step in the right direction. Not our best night tonight.
"
Kate Fawcett was outstanding in net tonight. When you look at players who can step up like that, you know they are more than capable to play, and compete at this level."
UP NEXT
The Spartans play their final game of the 2021-22 season on Saturday (7 p.m.) at the Langley Events Centre.
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.
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