LANGLEY, British Columbia – A goal in the 76^th minute by Alberta Golden Bears' Habib Assem handed the Trinity Western Spartans a 1-0 loss for their first defeat of the 2023 Canada West season.  No. 10 Alberta controlled much of the play of the game as the Golden Bears improved to 5-1-1, while the Spartans fell to 3-1-5.

Third-year keeper Yeshua Silwamba (Maple Ridge, B.C.) made four saves in the loss, while Alberta's Chris Ezoua made five saves.

AS IT HAPPENED
Alberta's goal came late in the game. The Golden Bear's Jake Bosch received a pass at the top left of the Spartans penalty area where he sent a square ball to Assem. Assem then one-timed the ball at the TWU net. The Spartans Silwamba charged the play and was able to get a piece of the ball, but not enough to stop it from going into the TWU net.

The Spartans' best opportunity came in the 85^th minute. TWU third-year forward Xander Roxburgh (Langley, B.C.) sent a diagonal ball to the left side of the Alberta penalty area. Spartan third-year forward, Charles Nana (Calgary, Alta.) ran onto the ball and got a shot off into a charging Ezoua. The hard contact resulted in the ball going out of play and the Spartans being held off of the scoresheet.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Mike Shearon
"It was a hard-fought battle. I thought that Alberta was fantastic. For the most part, both teams canceled each other out at times. But they obviously came up and got the goal when they needed it. And we didn't find one today and that has been our Achilles heel all year."
 
"In the first half, we weren't great, but we were able to stay in it, and I thought we did better in the second half. But Alberta fought through some of their own adversity and got a goal. We got a couple of chances but we didn't. The bottom line is that's the way the game goes. So we have to get back to the drawing board and see what we can come up with for next week."
 
NOTABLE

• TWU outshot Alberta 8-7, with both teams having five shots on net.
• The Golden Bears had five corner kicks to the Spartans' three
• Alberta had 17 fouls, while TWU had seven. The Spartans received two yellow cards, while the Golden Bears received one.
• Friday the Spartans tied the Saskatchewan Huskies 1-1 in Langley, B.C.
• TWU is currently 16-10-8 against Alberta
• Last week the Golden Bears match with the UBC Okanagan Heat on Sunday was suspended due to poor air quality at the 60-minute mark with Alberta leading 2-1.
• Friday the Golden Bears lost UNBC 2-0 in Prince George, B.C.
• TWU and Alberta tied 0-0 in their last meeting over five years ago on September 22, 2018.

UP NEXT
The Spartans will head back on the road next weekend when they travel to Kelowna, B.C. to face the UBC Okanagan Heat on Friday, September 29, and then to Kamloops, B.C. to face the  Thompson Rivers WolfPack on Saturday, September 30.  Match time at UBC-O is set for 5:30 p.m. (PT) and TRU is set for 7:00 p.m. (PT). Both matches can be seen live on Canada West 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-