VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The UBC Thunderbirds had a dominant game Saturday night as they defeated the Trinity Western Spartans 8-2 at the Father David Bauer Arena in Vancouver, B.C. The loss keeps the Spartans winless at 0-6, while the win keeps the No. 3 Thunderbirds unbeaten at 8-0
 
TWU first-year goalie Leon Sommer (Linz, Austria) made 46 saves in the loss, while UBC's Kaeden Lane made 24 saves to record the win.
 
TWU got goals from fourth-year forward Joshua Bruce (Surrey, B.C.) and third-year defenseman Landon Fuller (Williams Lake, B.C.). While UBC got two goals from Tan Rask, and singles from Carson Miller, Scott Atkinson, Chris Douglas, Jake Lee, Conner McDonald, and Liam Kindree.

AS IT HAPPENED
It took all of 20 seconds for the T-Birds to get on the board Saturday as Carson Miller got rewarded with his first of the season. The third-year forward popped home a Jake Lee rebound past Trinity goaltender Leon Sommer.
 
While it appeared as if the floodgates might open early, Miller's goal was the only one of 12 first-period T-Bird shots to get past Sommer as the visitors hung into the one-goal game through 20 minutes.
 
Tian Rask doubled UBC's lead 2:12 into the second, the first of two on the afternoon for the Saskatoon native. Jack Wismer fired a long range shot through traffic that was kicked out by Sommer but right out to Rask who buried his fifth of the season.
 
The Spartans cut their deficit back to one less than three minutes later with Joshua Bruce's first of the campaign. But from there on out it was pretty well all Thunderbirds.
 
Rask responded almost immediately with his second of the game, 28 seconds later to be precise, to restore the two goal UBC lead.
 
Scott Atkinson's second of the season with just over four minutes remaining in the frame game the home side a three goal cushion heading into the third.
 
The final period was much of the same with UBC outshooting the Spartans by a 24-8 margin.
 
Captain Chris Douglas scored his fourth, on the power play, just shy of the three-minute mark of the third, redirecting a back door feed from Jonathan Smart, the first of two third-period man-advantage goals for the T-Birds.
 
Trinity Western's Landon Fuller got one back at 8:29, his first of the season, a rebound off a Christian Lowe shot. But just 49 seconds later, the 'Birds replied once more, this time courtesy of Jake Lee's patented hard release. The second-year defenceman scored his third of the year right from the slot off a feed from Jack Wismer who finished as one of six Thunderbirds with multiple points.
 
Conner McDonald added his third of the season with just over four minutes remaining and Liam Kindree scored his fourth, on the power play, exactly three minutes later, completing UBC's second eight-goal game of the year.
 
NOTABLE

• The Thunderbirds outshot the Spartans 54-26.
• TWU went 0-5 on the power play, while UBC finished 4-6.
• TWU is 0-18 lifetime against UBC.
• It is the first time in program history that UBC has started the season 8-0.

 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now head on the road to visit the Saskatchewan Huskies this coming Friday and Saturday at Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon, Sask. Both games are scheduled for a 7 p.m. (MT) puck drop 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.
 
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