LANGLEY, British Columbia – A strong start was not enough as the Trinity Western Spartans fell 5-2 to the UBC Thunderbirds Thursday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The loss keeps the Spartans winless at 0-5, while the win keeps the No. 3 Thunderbirds unbeaten at 7-0
 
The Spartans stayed with the top-ranked Thunderbirds for much of the game. TWU and UBC were tied 0-0 after the first, and 2-2 after 40 minutes of play. But the Thunderbirds broke the game open with two goals in just under two and a half minutes in the first half of the third period.
 
TWU third-year goalie Raphael Audet (Rimouski, Que.) made 47 saves in the loss, while UBC's Cole Schwebius made 19 saves to earn the win.
 
TWU got goals from Tanner Hopps  (North Delta, B.C.) and Skyler Cameron (Nanaimo, B.C.), while UBC got goals from Josh Williams, Sasha Mutala, Chris Douglas, Tian Rask, and Ty Thorpe.

AS IT HAPPENED
After a scoreless first period, the Spartans jumped out quickly to get on the board to open the scoring in the second period. TWU fourth-year forward Daine DuBois (Williams Lake, B.C.) and fourth-year forward Tanner Hopps went in on a two-on-one with DuBois taking the puck up the left side. DuBois sent a perfect pass across the slot to Hopps who easily found the open net to put the Spartans up 1-0, 54 seconds into the period.
 
UBC's tied the game less than two minutes later when Jonathan Smart took a shot from the left dot. Audet made the save, but Josh Williams got the rebound and banked it off a Spartan skate to tie the game at 1-1 at 2;31.
 
TWU once again took the lead at 6;52. The Spartans rookie defenseman Skyler Cameron took a shot from just outside the left faceoff circle. That beat UBC's Schwebius to the glove side to give TWU the 2-1 lead, with his first goal as a Spartan.
 
The Thunderbirds Sasha Mutala tied the game up on the power play at 10:40. Mutala set up in the centre of the ice where he received a pass from Smart. Mutala sent a shot through traffic that Audet was unable to see as UBC tied up the game at 2-2.
 
UBC took the lead for good just under six minutes into the final period. The Thunderbirds Chris Douglas took a cross-ice pass from Thorpe and from the right dot hit the lower left corner of the Spartans' net to put UBC up 3-2 at 5:52 of the third period.
 
The Thunderbirds made it a two-goal margin at 8:18 of the final period. UBC's Jake Wright entered the Spartans zone and made a drop pass to Tian Rask. Rask made a perfect shot into the top right corner of the TWU net to put UBC up 4-2.
 
UBC's Ty Thorpe made it a three-goal game with a short-handed goal at 14:44. Thorpe broke out on a two-on-one and from the left circle put a high under the near cross-bar to put the Thunderbirds up 5-2.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Ben Walter
"We showed something for sure in the first 40 minutes. We played with them, we were right there with them, we battled with them, and had some opportunities to take the lead late. We got some great goaltending and had a great penalty kill at the end of the second and were feeling really good and feeling confident going into the third. Then obviously they have some guys who can score and shoot the puck and they capitalized on some rush opportunities."
 
"But I think the biggest thing for us is that we need to start believing that we deserve to win these kind of games. We are working hard at it and the guys are working hard in practice and doing the right things. But until we can find that belief that we deserve good things to happen this is what is going to keep happening."

"I'm very happy for Skyler getting his first goal tonight.  He has been through so much hardship over the past year and we are all very proud of him right now.  It's definitely the first of many for him."
 
NOTABLE

• The Thunderbirds out shot the Spartans 52-21.
• TWU went 0-3 on the power play, while UBC finished 1-2, with a shorthanded goal.
• TWU is 0-17 lifetime against UBC.
• Last week TWU lost 6-2, and 4-2 to the Regina Cougars in Langley, B.C.
• Last week the undefeated T-Birds defeated the Manitoba Bisons 4-3, and 5-2 in Vancouver, B.C.
• In preseason action TWU lost 4-3, and 6-1 to UBC in a home-and-home series.

 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and the T-Birds will each have a day off before finishing off the home-and-home on Saturday night at the Father David Bauer Arena in Vancouver, B.C. Game time is set for 3 p.m. and can be seen live on CanadaWest.TV.

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 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
 
-TW-