VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans had a tough start as they dropped a 7-2 contest to the No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds Friday night at Father David Bauer Arena in Vancouver, B.C. The loss is the Spartans' first regulation loss, and drops TWU to 3-1-1, while the win moves the T-Birds to 6-0-1.

Second-year goalie Karsyn Niven (Houston, BC) made 29 stops in the loss for the Spartans, while Elise Hugens made 11 saves in the Thunderbird win.

The Spartans got goals from Brooklyn Anderson (Shellbrook, Sask.) and Kara Yackel (St. Paul, Man.). While the Thunderbirds got two goals Makenzie McCallum, and single markers from Grace Elliott, Jaylyn Morris, Olivia Buckley, Chanreet Bassi, and Cassidy Rhodes.

AS IT HAPPENED
UBC jumped out quickly with a goal by Grace Elliott to put the T-Birds up 1-0 at 2:14 of the first period.

Jaylyn Morris gave the Thunderbirds a two-goal cushion heading into the first intermission with a goal at 14:34 to put UBC up 2-0.

Heading into the second period with a 2-0 lead, the 'Birds went up by three when Olivia Buckley finished on a late breakaway 5:49 into the frame with her first of the season.
The aforementioned pushback from the Spartans occurred shortly after when third-year centre Brooklyn Anderson snuck one under Elise Hugen's left pad from a sharp angle to get the visitors on the board.

But just 43 seconds later, Chanreet Bassi restored UBC's three-goal lead with her second of the season, popping home a rebound off a Rylind MacKinnon shot.
The Spartans got another one back at the 13:14 mark when second-year forward Kara Yackel's one-timer found the back of the net.

Once again, however, the T-Birds answered back in relatively quick fashion when McCallum deflected a Mia Thorpe point shot, once again giving UBC a three-goal cushion.

The Spartans' hopes of further closing the gap were dashed just 11 seconds into the third when Cassidy Rhodes took advantage of a TWU defensive zone turnover and roofed the puck for her first of the season.

McCallum completed her second multi-goal game as a Thunderbird when she wristed the puck high past Karsyn Niven just over four minutes later.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Peter Hay
"A tough night all around. UBC was all over us from the start. We need to be better right from the first puck drop. We adjusted through the game and found some success but it was too little too late."
"We can learn a lot from a game like this on how to play with the top teams in U SPORTS and Canada West. UBC is number one ranked in Canada for a reason. We are going to need to regroup and be ready to find a way to split the weekend tomorrow at home. I believe in our group and we will definitely come out more hungry and make it a game. We strongly focus on the process and losing unfortunately is part of that so we will continue to grow and learn through the adversity and challenge set in front of us. Tomorrow is a new day!" 

NOTABLE

• UBC outshot TWU 36-13.
• The Spartans finished 1/2 on the power play, while UBC finished 1/3.
• Prior to tonight the Spartans, T-Birds, and Saskatchewan Huskies (4-0) were the only teams left in Canada West who had not been beaten in regulation. Saskatchewan defeated Regina 3-0 tonight.
• The Spartans are 2-12 lifetime against the Thunderbirds.
• Last week TWU defeated the Regina Cougars 2-1, and 5-2 in Regina, Sask.
• Last week the undefeated T-Birds defeated the Manitoba Bisons 4-3, and 5-2 in Vancouver, B.C.
• In preseason action TWU defeated UBC 2-0 in Vancouver, B.C.
• UBC is the defending Canada West champions.
• UBC's Mackenzie Kordic was named U SPORTS women's hockey player of the week last week.

UP NEXT
The Spartans will now return home to host the Thunderbirds tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre. The game 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.
 
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