VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans battled the defending U SPORTS champions for a full 90 minutes before dropping a 2-1 decision to the UBC Thunderbirds Saturday night at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver, B.C. The loss drops the Spartans to 0-2, while the win moves the Thunderbirds to 2-0.
 
Second year forward Emmanuel Dan-Adokiene (Calgary, Alta.) scored the Spartans' lone goal (4'), while Max Comsia (26') and Brennen Fuerst (41') scored for the Thunderbirds.
 
TWU second-year keeper Peter Rogenthien (Austin, TX) made seven saves in the loss. UBC's Jack Garner made four saves in the Thunderbirds' win.
 
UP NEXT
TWU will now head home for their Canada West home openers against the UNBC Timberwolves on August 29-30 at Chase Office Field. The games can be seen live on Canadawest.tv.
 
QUOTABLE
Mike Shearon, TWU Head Coach
"We had a really good start to the game, and we did a lot of the things that we wanted to do.  Emmanuel had a good early goal, and then playing the national champions, they started to play, and they were able to take it to us a bit, but I was proud of the fact that we didn't completely break as they put a lot of pressure on us. I thought in the second half we had a few chances near the end to maybe get something out of the game."
 
"We are super fine-lined right now, and we need to regroup and be ready to go and play UNBC, which will be another tough weekend."
 
"I thought Jordan Low was amazing. He did a great job, as did a number of other guys."
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans started the match strong and were quickly rewarded in the fourth minute when Dan-Adokiene headed in a corner kick from fifth-year forward Charles Nana (Calgary, Alta.) to put the Spartans up 1-0. UBC pushed back, and after sustained pressure, Comsia evened the score in the 26th minute by finding open space in the Spartans' penalty area. The Thunderbirds Fuerst got the game-winner in the 41st minute. After a counterattack, UBC's Yuan Yu-Hsuan found Fuerst open at the top of the box, where Fuerst one-timed the winner into the back of the Spartans' net.
 
Both teams had chances in the second half, but both keepers were up to the challenge, with Rogenthien making five saves for TWU and Garner making three saves for UBC.
 
NOTABLE

• The Thunderbirds outshot the Spartans 17-8 in total shots, and 9-5 in shots on goal.
• TWU finished the match with five corners, while UBC finished with 15.
• TWU enters 2025 ranked No. 6 in the Canada West preseason coaches' poll, while the UBC Thunderbirds are ranked No. 1.
• Last night, the Spartans lost 3-1 to the Victoria Vikes, while UBC defeated the UFV Cascades 2-1.
• TWU finished last season fourth in the Pacific Division with a record of 6-6-3 in Canada West conference play. The Spartans' season ended in the quarterfinals with a 3-0 loss to the Alberta Golden Bears. The UBC Thunderbirds concluded last season with an 11-1-3 conference record and are the defending Canada West and U SPORTS champions.
• Spartans have a lifetime record of 12-29-15 against UBC. TWU was 0-1-1 against UBC last year, losing 1-0, and tying 1-1.
• The Spartans last win against the Thunderbirds in conference play was 4-1 on October 18, 2019.

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 women's and men's disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 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 CIS 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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