Box Score VANCOUVER – Playing in their first-ever contest under new head coach Ben Walter, Trinity Western's men's hockey team lost 3-0 against UBC in the Spartans opening contest of their preseason schedule Saturday at Father David Bauer Arena.

Spartans netminder Berk Berkeliev (Calgary) made 35 saves in a strong showing, but it wasn't quite enough against a UBC side that tallied goals in all three periods. 

The Thunderbirds, who were playing in their fourth game of the preseason, got two goals from Chris Douglas and one from Ben Keon. 

The Spartans finished the night scoreless on five power play opportunities, while UBC scored once on four chances with the man-advantage. 

QUOTABLE
Ben Walter – TWU Head Coach
"I thought we did a lot of good things. The potential is evident in this group and we're very excited, as a staff, for what we can do this year. We played with a lot of speed and we came out hard in the first five minutes and we played the way we need to play all the time. We just weren't able to sustain that for a full 60 minutes. Berk gave us a chance to win. He played great and he made some big saves and you can't really ask for too much more out of your goalie. 

"Now, moving forward, we need to work on the little things and build on the right habits and we need to be able to make decisions a little bit quicker. But, otherwise, all of us as a staff were very happy with the effort and the attitude that we had out there. We have lots to build on." 

NOTABLE 
•    The Spartans last meeting the Thunderbirds was Feb. 19, 2022 when TWU lost 4-3 in overtime against then No. 9 ranked UBC. The game was the Spartans final contest of the 2021-22 season.
•    TWU is winless in nine games against UBC all-time. 

NEXT UP
The Spartans host Simon Fraser University Sept. 16 at 7:15 p.m. (PT) at the George Preston Recreation Centre before a visit to SFU the following afternoon (Sept. 17 at 4 p.m. (PT)) at the Bill Copeland Sports 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, as well as women's and men's disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 13 U SPORTS team championships and 31 Canada West team championships.

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