KELOWNA, British Columbia – Second-year forward Mansha Sidhu (Surrey, B.C.) scored the lone goal of the match in the 70th minute as the Trinity Western Spartans defeated the UBC Okanagan Heat 1-0 Saturday night at Nonis Field in Kelowna, BC. The win moves the Spartans to 2-0 while the loss drops the Heat to 2-1.
 
TWU second-year keeper Yasmine Pahal (Surrey, B.C.) made four saves to earn the win. While UBCO's Talia Gagnon made eight saves in the Heat loss.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans have their home opener on Friday, September 13 when they host the Mount Royal Cougars for a solo weekend match.
 
QUOTABLE
Trinity Western Head Coach Graham Roxburgh
"Really proud of our players for their effort and for finding a way. I thought our second half was good and more assertive without maybe the quality in the final third, but we kept going and then a great sequence from Veronica Walter (first-year midfielder, Calgary, AB) and Soph and good attacking runs found the breakthrough. Nice to have Tilly James (fourth-year defender, Vancouver, B.C.) back, as she brings maturity and calm. I thought Danielle Cooper (third-year defender, Surrey, B.C.) was a tower of strength this weekend. We had a lot of kids put in some hard minutes this weekend and we corporately overcame some setbacks."
 
AS IT HAPPENED
Neither team could find the back of the net in the opening 45 minutes. Pahal made three saves in the opening half for TWU, while Gagnon made five saves for the Heat. TWU finished the opening 45 minutes with nine shots, and five shots on target to go with three corner kicks, while UBCO finished the half with 10 total shots, three on target, and two corner kicks.
 
TWU carried much of the play in the second half and were finally rewarded with a goal in the 70th minute. TWU third-year midfielder Sophie Crowther (New Westminster, B.C.) got open up the right side of the Heat penalty area. She sent a low pass to an open Sidhu (Surrey, B.C.) on the far post. Sidhu, took the pass and touched it to the back of the Heat net to put TWU up 1-0 with 20 minutes left to play.
 
The Spartans continued to control the play throughout the remainder of the match, but were unable to find another marker as the final ended 1-0 for the visitors from Langley, B.C.
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans outshot the Heat 17-12 in total shots, and 9-4 in shots on goal.
• TWU had a 5-3 edge in corner kicks.
• TWU is ranked No. 3 (U SPORTS Top 10) and No. 2 (CW coaches' poll) while UBC Okanagan is ranked No. 7 (CW).
• Trinity Western is currently 12-0-1 lifetime against UBC Okanagan. Last season the Spartans defeated the Heat 3-0 at Chase Office Field.
• In their last match at Nonis Field TWU defeated UBCO 2-0 on September 24, 2022.
• TWU is the defending Canada West champions and U SPORTS silver medalist.

 
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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