LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western's return to the Chase Office Field saw the Spartans take a 2-1 victory over Western Washington on Thursday.
With this victory, TWU's preseason record now moves to 1-1-0.
TWU's goals were scored by first-years
Sophie Crowther (New Westminster, B.C.) and
Charis Wardrope (Maple Ridge, B.C.).
AS IT HAPPENED
With the Spartans dominating the bulk of possession, a well-placed through-ball from
Tilly James (North Vancouver, B.C.) found the feet of
Sophie Crowther, who tucked her chance home in the 33
rd minute. The first 45 closed at 1-0 after Crowther's marker.
The second half of action started with few golden opportunities, but
Charis Wardrope was able to find the back of the net off a pinpoint cross from
Claire Bastura (Parkland County, Alta.) in the 73
rd.
With the Spartans leading 2-0, WWU refused to give in, scoring an 81
st minute goal from the penalty spot before the match would close at a 2-1 line favouring the hosts.
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Graham Roxburgh
"Typical Western versus Trinity Western game. The fact that we were able to have a lot of players sub in and out made it a really good preseason tilt, so I was pleased that our players were able to generate some good offence – I thought our second goal was superb.
"Sophie [Crowther] is a special player who will always cause teams fits, but I thought there were some really good performances tonight.
Charis Wardrope in the second half was excellent, Grace Van den Brink (Chilliwack, B.C.) battled through lots of tough stuff in the midfield to come out on the winning end a few times. Sierra [Halldorson] was good. Tilly [James] and Danielle [Cooper] (Surrey, B.C.) did a great job in the second half to shut them down. Lots of good things.
"Highlight for me was
Aliya Coy (Calgary) getting her first minutes since last fall.
"Lots of positives, but we've got a lot of work to do because we're a new team with lots of new players being embedded in. Time to keep growing through the road trip."
NOTABLE
- WWU has traditionally been a tough out for the Spartans. Throughout their eight total matches played against each other, TWU is 2-5-1 against the Vikings.
- The Vikings outshot the Spartans 15-11, but TWU edged WWU 9-7 in shots on target.
UP NEXT
The Spartans are heading south of the border to take on Gonzaga
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 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.
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