LANGLEY, British Columbia– The Trinity Western Spartans had a strong showing against the No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds, but fell short on the scoreboard, losing 5-4 to the visiting T-Birds Thursday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The loss drops the Spartans to 3-18-2-0, while the win improves the Thunderbirds to 18-2-2-1.
 
Scoring for the Spartans were third-year forward Christian Lowe (Port Moody, B.C.) with his ninth and tenth of the season, first-year forward Danylo Korzhyletskyi (Kyiv, Ukraine) with his first of the season, and first-year forward Aiden Knutson (Red Deer, Alta.) with his fifth of the season.
 
Scoring for the Thunderbirds were Jake Lee with his 12th of the season, Reilley Kotai with his eighth of the season, Chris Douglas with his 13th of the season, Logan Doust with his third of the season, and Scott Atkinson with his ninth of the season.
 
Trinity Western fifth-year goalie Raphael Audet (Rimouski, QC) made 63 saves in the Spartans' loss. UBC's Brett Mirwald made 23 saves in the Thunderbirds' win.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now finish the home-and-home series with the UBC Thunderbirds tomorrow night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver, B.C. The game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. (PT) puck drop and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
  
QUOTABLE
Ben Walter, TWU Head Coach
"I have nothing negative to say about our team tonight.  I am so incredibly proud of every player and the effort and fight they played with.  We had great performances from a bunch of guys, and we were right there to the end with a really good team.  We had some tough calls go against us tonight, but we showed a ton of maturity in not letting them affect how we were playing, which is amazing to see as a coach."
"If we can keep bringing this effort consistently, good things will start to happen for this group.  We will get what we deserve sooner rather than later."

AS IT HAPPENED
The Thunderbirds got on the board early with Lee scoring just 52 seconds into the contest. TWU's Lowe got his first of the night at 10:27, before Kotai put UBC up 2-1 after 20 minutes with his goal at 18:17.
The Spartans had impressive special teams play in the second period with Korzhyletskyi scoring on the power play at 7:20 to tie the game at 2-2. The Spartans then went up 3-2 with Knutson's short-handed goal at 16:32 to give TWU the lead heading into the final period.
The Thunderbirds tied the game with Douglas scoring at 7:18 on the 5-3 power play after TWU got back-to-back delay of game penalties. UBC's Doust gave the Thunderbirds the lead for good with his goal at 9:37.  UBC's Atkinson followed up with the eventual game-winner on the power play, less than a minute later at 10:36. TWU's Lowe got his second of the night at 15:45 to bring the Spartans back to within one goal, trailing 5-4, making for a frantic finish. TWU was unable to get the equalizer, despite some fine offensive zone possession, as the T-Birds prevailed 5-4.
NOTABLE

• The Thunderbirds outshot the Spartans 68-27
• TWU was 1-6 on the power play, while UBC finished 2-5.
• The Spartans are currently 1-36 lifetime against the UBC Thunderbirds.
• The Spartans are 0-5 against the Thunderbirds this season. In their last meetings, TWU lost 4-2 and 6-1 in a home-and-home series on December 4-5.
• Last week, the Spartans were swept by the Manitoba Bisons, losing 4-3 on both nights in Langley, B.C.
• Last week, the Thunderbirds swept the Calgary Dinos, winning 4-0 and 5-2 on the road in Calgary, 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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