LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans moved above .500 on the Canada West season with a solid 2-1 win over the UBC Okanagan Heat Friday evening at Chase Office Field in Langley, B.C. The win improves the Spartans to 5-2-2, while the loss drops the Heat to 4-5-1.
Scoring for the Spartans were third-year midfielder
Kylie Hendricks (Maple Ridge, B.C.), and third-year defender
Danielle Cooper (Surrey, B.C.). While the Heats lone goal came from Annika Gross.
TWU second-year keeper
Yasmine Pahal (Surrey, B.C) made four saves to earn the win, while UBC Okanagan's Talig Gagnon made six saves in the Heat loss.
UP NEXT
The Spartans will finish the weekend homestand against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack Saturday night at Chase Office Field in Langley, BC. The game is set for a 5 p.m. (PT) kickoff and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
QUOTABLE
Trinity Western Head Coach Graham Roxburgh
"I am really pleased with our corporate effort tonight in so many aspects. They showed heart and a determination to win the ball higher and finally got rewarded for our efforts.
Kylie Hendricks was a massive boost for us tonight and I thought charity's work rate outstanding. Our back 4 defended well and despite giving the goal away we showed character to respond. Hopefully we can build on it and start the play with more fluidity and poise."
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans had their first quality chance in the 18th minute when fourth-year forward
Charity Field (Burnaby, B.C.) was fouled in the box. But the Spartans second-year forward Mansha Sadhu's (Surrey, B.C.) penalty kick went off the post and out of touch.
TWU looked to get on the board in the 34th minute but Spartans' fifth-year midfielder
Maddie Melnychuk (Langley, B.C.) was robbed by UBCO's Gagnon on a shot from the centre of the box.
The Spartans got on the board in extra time. TWU's Melnychuk was saved by Gagnon. The rebound went to second-year forward
Luciana Andrews (Coquitlam, B.C.) who found Hendricks for her first goal of the season to put TWU up 1-0. UBC Okanagan responded quickly and nearly tied the game up a minute later when Alyssa Scott hit the ball off of the Spartan crossbar as the half ended 1-0 for the Spartans. TWU outshot the UBCO 9-6 in total shots and 5-3 in shots on goal.
The Heat came out strong and quickly tied the match up. UBCO's Nina Louis found Annika Gross on the top right side of the Spartan box, where she chipped the ball just under the crossbar to tie the game 1-1 in the 50th minute.
TWU came back and used a corner kick to their advantage to regain the lead in the 59th minute. TWU fourth-year midfielder
Erin Stewart (Winnipeg, MB) sent the corner into the centre of the box where Cooper went high and headed the ball inside the far post to put TWU up 2-1 with 31 minutes remaining in the match.
NOTABLE
- The Spartans outshot the Heat 12-11 in total shots, and 8-5 in shots on goal.
- TWU had a 6-2 edge in corner kicks.
- The Spartans opened the Canada West season 1-0 win over the Heat in Kelowna, B.C. TWU is in third place in CW, UBC O is in fourth place. The top four teams make the post season.
- Last weekend the Spartans beat Mount Royal 1-0 in Calgary and lost to Victoria 1-0 in Victoria, B.C.
- The UBC O Heat defeated UNBC Timberwolves 3-1 and lost to the UBC Thunderbirds 1-0 last week
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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