LANGLEY, British Columbia – Third-year forward Xander Roxburgh (Langley, B.C.) scored the game-winner, and third-year keeper Yeshua Silwamba (Maple Ridge, B.C.) posted the shutout as the Trinity Western Spartans defeated the reigning U SPORTS champion Thompson Rivers WolfPack 1-0 to open Canada West play Friday night at Chase Office Field in Langley, B.C.

Silwamba made five saves to earn the shutout victory for the Spartans, while TRU's Olivier Jumeau made two saves in the loss.
Roxburgh, who subbed into the match in the 79^th minute, scored the game-winner six minutes later to lift TWU to victory. Roxburgh found the back of the TRU net when he went high in the centre of the box and headed a corner kick from third-year midfielder Joey Seo (Victoria, B.C.) into the top left corner of the WolfPack net.

TRU's best opportunity came in the 59^th minute when rookie defender Harry Taylor's shot from just outside the box hit the Spartans' crossbar.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Mike Shearon
"So that was huge for us tonight. You are playing the U SPORTS champions and they are a good team and they have a lot of pride and they want to do well and start off well. Everyone wants to start off well. So tonight was a big night for our program to be able to beat that team and win the way that we won and to be resilient throughout the match."
 
"Outside of the free kicks, we were able to limit most of their real chances for them. We got a bit lucky on the corner where they hit the bar. But defensively we are slowly getting to where we want to be with all 11 guys putting in the work. I think we will see some good growth in that area as we go through the season."
 
On Roxburgh's performance
"Xander was due. All preseason he has been finishing well in practice, but hasn't finished in a game. He was due one and it was a big one for him and I'm sure it is going to give him a lot of confidence. We have a lot of guys who are going to be fighting to find time on the field. And it's all about contribution and Xander contributed for sure tonight."
 
NOTABLE
TWU enters the 2023 season ranked No. 5 in the Canada West pre-season coaches' poll, while TRU is ranked No. 4.
Last season the Spartans finished fifth, 6-8-2, in the Canada West Pacific Division last season.
The WolfPack finished last season raising the program's first U SPORTS championship banner after defeating the UBC Thunderbirds 2-1 in the championship match. TRU finished last season with a 7-3-5 conference record.
Trinity Western is currently 11-5-2 lifetime against Thompson Rivers. The Spartans and WolfPack split last season with both teams winning by 2-1 margins.
TWU had 23 goals last season (4^th) while giving up 25 goals (8^th).
TRU had 17 goals last season (10^th), while giving up just 10 goals (2^nd).
TRU had a 5-4 edge in corner kicks
The WolfPack committed 13 fouls and had three yellow cards, while the Spartans committed seven fouls.
The victory was Silwamba's first conference win as a member of the Spartans.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now host the UBC Okanagan Heat tomorrow evening at Chase Office Field to complete the opening weekend of conference play. Game time is set for 7:15 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.
 
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