VANCOUVER –The Trinity Western Spartans dropped a 6-2 decision to the UBC Thunderbirds Saturday night at the Father David Bauer Arena in Vancouver, B.C. The win improves the Thunderbirds to 3-1, while the loss keeps the Spartans winless at 0-4.
 
Scoring for the Spartans were second-year forward Artem Hrabovestsky (Kyiv, Ukraine) and third-year forward Mikhailo Simchuk (Kyiv, Ukraine).
 
Scoring for the Thunderbirds were Jake Lee with two goals, Sasha Mutala, Jake Wright, Chris Douglas, and Alex Serraglio.
 
Third-year goalie Leon Sommer (Linz, Austria) made 38 saves in the Spartans' loss. UBC's Cole Schwebius made 18 saves in the Golden Bears' win.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will head home to host the Saskatchewan Huskies on Friday and Saturday, October 17-18. Friday's game will start at 7:15 p.m. (PT) at the George Preston Recreation Center, with Saturday's game at 7 p.m. (PT) at the Langley Events Centre.
 
QUOTABLE
Ben Walter, TWU Head Coach
"It wasn't our best game tonight, but we have great moments every game that give me a lot of hope for the season with this group.  UBC played a great road game and made more plays than we did.  To have sustained success this year, we need to win the majority of puck battles, and we did not do that tonight." 
 
Adam Leitch was a bright spot for us tonight.  For a first-year defenceman in this league, Adam has shown great poise and has played very strongly so far.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
Lee opened the scoring midway through the first when he collected his own rebound and tucked in a wraparound past Sommer. Mutala scored his second of the season four minutes later at 15:45, a long-range, precision wrist shot on the power play to give UBC a 2-0 lead heading to the second.
 
Hrabovetskyi got the Spartans on the board with his first of the season 2:13 into the middle frame, but the T-Birds responded quickly, restoring the two-goal advantage just 74 seconds later. Jacob Wright sniped short side past Sommer for his second in as many games. Douglas earned his first of the campaign five minutes later, finishing off a beautiful tic-tac-toe for the 'Birds' second power play goal of the night. Before the period was out, the Spartans got a power play goal of their own, Simchuk with his team-leading third of the season, with less than two minutes left in the frame.
 
Early in the third, UBC extended its lead to three with Serraglio's first of the season. Lee got his second of the game at 14:38, moving the puck around the offensive zone while waiting for Reilley Kotai to provide a screen in front.
 
NOTABLE

• The Thunderbirds outshot the Spartans 44-20.
• The Spartans were 1-2 on the power play, while the Thunderbirds were 2-3.
• TWU is currently 1-33  lifetime against UBC.

 
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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