LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans fell 3-1 to the UBC Thunderbirds, in a battle of unbeaten teams, Friday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The loss drops the Spartans to 2-1, while the win improves the Thunderbirds to 3-0.
 
Scoring for the Spartans was fourth-year forward Kara Yackel (West St. Paul, Man.)
Scoring for the Thunderbirds were Jaylyn Morris, Grace Elliott, and Karine Sandilands.
 
Fifth-year goalie Kate Fawcett (Tottenham, Ont.) and second-year goalie Olivia Davidson (Edmonton, Alta.) combined to make 24 saves in the Spartans' loss. UBC's Mya Lucifora made 20 saves in the Thunderbirds' win.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Thunderbirds will match up again tomorrow at 3 pm at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports. The game can be seen live on Canadawest TV.
 
QUOTABLE
Peter Hay, TWU Head Coach
"Unfortunately, they got two quick goals in the first, which put us down. I was proud of our comeback and how we fought right to the end. The game got a bit dirty in the third, but our players played hard through it, and we managed to get within one goal. Unfortunately, they got a lucky one to make it 3-1 again. Proud of our girls for coming back, trying their best, and never giving up. We're close. We know what we need to do for tomorrow, and we'll see if we can go and execute it."

AS IT HAPPENED
The Thunderbirds struck quickly with Morris scoring UBC's first attempt to put the T-birds up 1-0 51 seconds into the contest. UBC made it 2-0 to end the first period when Elliott scored on the breakaway at 16:28.
 
TWU's Kara Yackel cut the lead in half with a power play goal at 16:02 of the second period. But the two-goal lead was short-lived as UBC's Sandilands scored 29 seconds later to make it a 3-1 lead for the Thunderbirds after 40 minutes.
 
The Spartans were unable to cut into the lead in the final scoreless period to make the final 3-1 for the visiting Thunderbirds.
 
NOTABLE

• The Thunderbirds outshot the Spartans 27-21.
• TWU was 1-6 on the power play, while UBC was 0-4 on the power play.
• TWU is currently 2-24 lifetime against UBC.
• In their last conference meeting, the Spartans lost 4-3 in overtime last January 17 in Vancouver, B.C. 
• TWU's last win, 2-0, was on September 15, 2023, in Vancouver, B.C.
• Last week the Spartans swept the Alberta Pandas, 3-2 PK and 3-2OT, at home at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.
• Last week the Thunderbirds swept the MacEwan Griffins 1-0, and 3-1 on the road in Edmonton, Alta.

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as in the NAIA in track and field and cross country and as an independent team in men's rugby and women's and men's disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 33 Canada West team championships.

About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in U SPORTS. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.  
 
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