VANCOUVER, British Columbia– The Trinity Western Spartans fell behind early and were not able to match the UBC Thunderbirds as the Spartans fell 9-1 to the No. 1 T-birds. The loss drops the Spartans to 3-19-2-0, while the win improves the Thunderbirds to 19-2-2-1.
 
Scoring the lone goal for the Spartans was second-year forward Lleyton Shearon (Langley, B.C.) with his first goal as a Spartan.
 
Scoring for the Thunderbirds were Reilley Kotai with his ninth and tenth of the season, Scott Atkinson with his 10 of the season,  Jake Lee with his 13 of the season, Nathan Sullivan with his eighth of the season, Jake Wright with his 13 of the season, Matthew Smith with his second of the season, Cyle McNabb with his eighth of the season, and Liam Kindree with his fourth of the season.
 
Trinity Western third-year goalie Leon Sommer (Linz, Austria) played 40 minutes and made 34 saves, while second-year goalie (Abbotsford, B.C.) played 20 minutes and made 10 saves in the Spartans' loss. UBC's Cole Schwebius made 12 saves in the Thunderbirds' win.
 
UP NEXT
After a bye week the Spartans will now host the MacEwan Griffins in their final home weekend of the season on February 6-7. Game times at the George Preston Recreation Centre are set for 7:15 p.m. (PT) on both nights and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Thunderbirds dominated the first period, outshooting the Spartans 23-4 on their way to a 4-0 lead after the opening 20 minutes. Atkinson opened the scoring at 3:21 to put UBC up 1-0. The Thunderbirds followed up with three power-play goals: Lee at 5:51, Sullivan at 8:42, and Wright at 13:51.
UBC continued to expand its lead in the second period with Kotai scoring at 6:37, Smith at 9:58, and McNabb at 19:27 to take a 7-0 lead into the final period.
Two more power play goals for the Thunderbirds by Kindree at 3:08 and Kotai at 5:59 finished off the UBC scoring. TWU's Shearon got his first goal as a Spartan at 19:43 to break up Schwebius' shutout attempt.

NOTABLE

• The Thunderbirds outshot the Spartans 53-13
• TWU was 0-7 on the power play, while UBC finished 5-7.
• The Spartans are currently 1-37 lifetime against the UBC Thunderbirds.
• The Spartans lost to the Thunderbirds 5-4 on Thursday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.

 
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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