VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans were unable to find the back of the net Saturday afternoon against the No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds, while the Thunderbirds tallied three times to defeat the Spartans 3-0 at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver, B.C. The loss drops the third-place Spartans to 8-9-1-0, while the win improves the first-place Thunderbirds to 17-1-0-0.
 
Scoring for the Thunderbirds were Grace Elliott, Hanna Perrier, and Vanessa Schaefer.
 
Second-year Olivia Davidson (Edmonton, Alta.) made 24 saves in the Spartans' loss.
UBC's Mya Lucifora made 14 saves to earn the shutout win.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now take a break for Christmas. TWU's next games are at home against the MacEwan Griffins. The games at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C., are scheduled to start at 1 p.m. (PT) on both days and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
It was clear that it would be a tight-checking affair from the game's onset. Both UBC and Trinity Western surrendered power plays in the first period, but it would be the Spartans who had the best opportunities to score thanks to a flurry of traffic in front of Lucifora.
 
With Mya Healey in the box late in the opening frame, Kasey Ditner was able to walk the blueline and nearly found the back of the net with a seeing eye shot, barely missing wide.
 
After a slow offensive start to the first period, Thomas' squad entered the second frame eager to break the deadlock. But to make matters worse, the T-Birds started the period with a series of penalties that gave TWU back-to-back 5-on-3 opportunities.
 
Despite having two extra attackers for the bulk of the first five minutes, the Spartans were unable to capitalize on the opportunity. UBC rallied around the momentum gained from four straight penalty kills thanks to the classic connection of Annalise Wong to Elliott. After some good work along the boards by Wong, Elliott walked in on goal from the short-side and snapped a shot over the shoulder of Olivia Davidson into the only glimmer of daylight available to open the scoring.
 
The game's energy continued to tilt in UBC's favour as Jacquelyn Fleming and Perrier connected behind the net to allow Perrier to bang home her own rebound to send UBC ahead 2-0 entering the final period.
 
Trinity Western threatened in the third, but could not mount sustained offensive pressure, only registering a few shots on goal in the final 20 minutes. UBC scored the dagger thanks to a strong rush from Elliott, who slid a pass to Vanessa Schaefer that deflected off the second-year centre's shin pad to give the T-Birds plenty of insurance to close out the game.
 
NOTABLE

• The Thunderbirds outshot the Spartans 27-14.
• TWU was 0-5 on the power play, while UBC finished 0-2.
• The Spartans currently trail the second-place Alberta Pandas by one point, 18-17, with Alberta in action Saturday evening against the MacEwan Griffins.
• Yesterday afternoon, the Thunderbirds defeated the Spartans 3-2 at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.
• The Spartans are currently 2-27 lifetime against the UBC Thunderbirds. TWU is 0-2 against UBC this season in conference play.
• TWU's lone conference win over UBC was a 3-2 overtime win on November 10, 2022, at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.
• Earlier this season, the Spartans lost 3-2 and 3-1 in the home-and-home series the second week of October.

 
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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