VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Fourth-year forward Daine Dubois (Williams Lake, B.C.) scored the lone goal for the Spartans as Trinity Western lost 5-1 to the UBC Thunderbirds Saturday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Centre in Vancouver, B.C. The win improves UBC to 20-4-0, while the loss drops Trinity Western to 2-17-1.
 
TWU first-year goalie Leon Sommer (Linz, Aust) was impressive makeing 52 saves in the loss, while UBC's Cole Schwebius made 16 saves to record the win.
 
Scoring for UBC were Jack Lee at 11:06 first, Liam Kindree (PP) 11:43 second, Ty Thorpe 15:38 second, Jake Lee 3:05 third, and Jonathan Smart 5:41 third.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
Following a bit of a listless start to the opening period, things got a bit chippy as things progressed while Lee opened scoring with his 10^th of the season and third in as many games.
 
After an initial shot by Lee was blocked, the second-year blueliner banked the puck off the end boards to Tian Rask who played it back out to the slot where this time Lee got it past Leon Sommer to get the Winter Classic crowd roaring.
 
The Spartans took some air out of the near-capacity building just 24 seconds into the second when Daine Dubois took advantage of a T-Birds defensive zone turnover, tying the game with his fourth of the season.
 
Liam Kindree scored what turned out to be the game-winner on the power play midway through the second with his team-leading 14^th.
 
Ty Thorpe doubled the 'Birds' lead with just over four minutes remaining in the period. The first year ripped home his eighth from the slot off a centring feed by Cyle McNabb.
 
In a familiar storyline, UBC took the game over in the third, outshooting the Spartans by a 17-6 margin and putting the game essentially out of reach with a pair of goals less than three minutes apart. Lee struck again at the 3:05 mark and Jonathan Smart got the crowd roaring again with his fourth.
 
By the final buzzer the T-Birds had outshot the visitors 57-17 while going a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill for a second straight game.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Ben Walter
"I liked our game from start to finish a lot more than our game last night.  I thought that we battled for the entire game and had several great chances to tie it in the second period, but UBC came on strong in the third and that was the difference."
 
"It was a great atmosphere and a lot of fun to be a part of the game tonight.  I really liked how our players responded and if we can maintain that effort moving forward we will get rewarded."  
 
"Leon was outstanding tonight, he made many fantastic saves and the future is very bright for him.  We have had the benefit of having great goaltending all year and we definitely don't take that for granted."
 
NOTABLE

• The Thunderbirds outshot the Spartans 57-17 on the night.
• TWU finished the night 0/3 on the power-play, while UBC finished 1/3.
• The Spartans lost 6-3 to the Thunderbirds Thursday night at the LEC in Langley, B.C.
• The Spartans are 0-20 lifetime against the Thunderbirds.
• In their last series with UBC on October 19 and 21, the Spartans lost 5-2 and 8-2 in the home-and-home series.
• It was the Thunderbirds Winter Classic and over 4,800 spectators watched tonight's game.

 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now head on the road for a weekend series with the Manitoba Bisons in Winnipeg, Man. with both games available 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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