LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western earned its first-ever victory over rugby powerhouse Central Washington, beating the Wildcats 14-10 Saturday night at the Willoughby Community Park Stadium.
Matthew Willemse (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) scored what stood as the game-winning try in the 42nd minute, as he grabbed a loose ball at the breakdown and took off to the corner from 10 metres out before diving over to touch down just inside the flag.
It was then Willemse using the boot to seal the win late, as he slotted his third penalty of the night to give the Spartans the win. Willemse finished with all 14 points for the Spartans against a CWU side that entered the contest ranked seventh overall in USA college rugby (Goff Rugby Report D1A Rankings).
The Spartans have now won three games in a row at home, dating back to the 2023 Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship, when TWU capped the tournament by beating Calgary and Queen's to finish fifth overall.
TWU will travel to play CWU Mar. 30 in Ellensburg, Wash.
In a post-game ceremony, the Spartans honoured graduating seniors
Keegan Marengo,
Nate Schroeder,
Collin Lagat,
Mathew Goroza,
Rhys Saleken and
Tamilore Awonusi.
QUOTABLE
Andrew Evans – Director of Rugby
"It's a massive win for us. It's another milestone that I'm really thankful for all the hard work that every single player in our program has put in.
"Matt was vice-captain for us today and was a leader. He's a very dynamic player and a great kicker and the try that he scored – he saw the breakdown and the space that was available to him and he had great body awareness to score a spectacular try in the corner.
"It's fitting on seniors night to be led by a player like
Keegan Marengo (Johannesburg, South Africa) who was here from the beginning. We've been closing the gap between us and Central Washington over time, but it's really nice to get a win and see all the hard work over the years come to fruition. It's taken five years of hard work to knock off a quality program like Central Washington.
"Our defence has been great. Stuart Crowley is our defence coach and the systems he's put in place and the pressure we're applying have been great. We have players like Caleb Van Til (Tsawwassen, B.C.) and
Sam Tsoi (Hong Kong, China) who love smashing things and
Josh Halladay (Langley), who's our captain, was leading by example with some big hits. We showed a lot of heart and I thought our backs defended quite well. Central's back line is quite dangerous and we were able to create some turnovers and make it difficult on them."
AS IT HAPPENED
Willemse opened the scoring in the 14th minute when he slotted a penalty.
Ten minutes later, the Wildcats struck back scoring their first try of the evening to grab a 5-3 lead in the 25th minute.
Willemse put TWU ahead once again in the 40th minute, hitting his second penalty of the game, to make it 6-5, but a CWU try at the halftime whistle sent the visitors ahead 10-6.
The Spartans fullback was at it again early in the second half, dotting down just two minutes after the break.
From there, both teams had their chances deep inside the opposition's end, but neither scored before Willemse kicked through the last points of the contest.
NOTABLE
• TWU had lost each of its previous four meetings with the Wildcats by a combined score of 188-34.
• CWU came into the game off back-to-back wins over Victoria (27-22) and UBC (20-13).
• The Spartans 2nd XV side will host the University of Washington Feb. 10 at 2:30 p.m. at Willoughby Community Park Stadium.
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now prepare for their England Tour, which will see TWU take on Cambridge University on Feb. 21 and University of Bristol on Feb. 24.
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 and disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.
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