MORAGA, Calif. – Playing the No. 3-ranked Saint Mary's Gaels, Trinity Western lost 45-10 Saturday afternoon at Saint Mary's Stadium. 

Taking on the long-time American rugby power, Spartans captain Caleb Gerth (Langley, B.C.) scored TWU's lone try while Matthew Willemse (Langley, B.C.) slotted a first half penalty and added a conversion. 

Trailing 12-0, Willemse got TWU on the board with seven minutes to play in the first half. With just under five minutes to go in the second half, Gerth made a line break from 20 metres out to dot down for TWU, before Willemse connected on the conversion.

The Spartans trailed 19-3 at the break. Gerth's try made it 38-10 before a late Gaels try capped the scoring. 

Both Scott Bowers (New Westminster, B.C.) and Sam Wegert (Langley) played in their final games with TWU, as they are now both set to join the Pacific Pride – Canada's national high-performance men's program based in Langford, B.C.

QUOTABLE
Andrew Evans – Director of Rugby
"There's a good sense of disappointment in this group but at the same time, we dealt with more adversity and certain guys stepped up. Our set piece was a little shaky and we weren't accurate in our passing, but we've had a lot of curve balls thrown at us over the last few games, so these games have given us an opportunity to mature and deal with those challenges. 

"Our front row was stuck in all day long. Ethan Jurgeneit (Bracebridge, Ont.) had his flight cancelled out of Ontario so he wasn't here and Favour Olaniyan (Gibsons, B.C.) went down with an injury in the first seven minutes, but Tim Zimmer stepped up and scrummaged quite well and Scott Bowers (New Westminster, B.C.), was really good, especially when he switched to loosehead for us. The young guys coming on played well. Max Darcy (Calgary) did some good things and he secured a ball that eventually led to Caleb's try. 

"We will certainly miss Scott and Sam moving forward, as they have been outstanding players and men for our program, but we're excited to see them in the next stage of their careers. Now, we need to have the young players step up to the standard that we expect within our program. We need to make sure that even when there is adversity and challenges, we can still get the wins against good rugby teams."

NOTABLE
•    In 2020, the Spartans played Saint Mary's in California and lost 96-0.  
•    TWU's last action saw the Spartans finish 4th overall at the Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship, which saw them post a 1-2 record including an historic quarter-final win over No. 1-seeded University of Victoria. 

UP NEXT
TWU's next university opponent is No. 9-ranked Central Washington University. The Spartans will host the Wildcats Jan. 28 at 6 p.m. at Willoughby Community Park.

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.

About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in CIS sports. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.  

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