PHOENIX, Arizona – The Trinity Western Spartan lost an evenly contest match to Grand Canyon 39-28 Saturday afternoon at the GCU Field in Phoenix, Arizona.
Scoring for the Spartans were fifth-year prop (Bracebridge, Ont.) with two try's, second-year flanker
Caleb Whitton (Morphett Vale, Australia) and Fourth-year prop
Tim Zimmer (Fort St. John, B.C.) with one try each, and fifth-year fullback Matt Willemse (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) with four conversions.
SCORING SUMMARY
12' – GCU Penalty – 3-0 GCU
15' – TWU Try (
Caleb Whitton), Conversion (
Matthew Willemse) – 7-3 TWU
21' – TWU Try (
Ethan Jurgeneit), Conversion (
Matthew Willemse) – 14-3 TWU
27' – GCU Try, Conversion – 14-10 TWU
35' – GCU Try, Conversion – 14-17 GCU
53' – GCU Try, 14-22 GCU
55' – TWU Try (
Ethan Jurgeneit), Conversion (
Matthew Willemse) – 21-22 GCU
62' – GCU Penalty – 21-25 GCU
67' – GCU Try, Conversion – 21-32 GCU
70' – TWU Try (
Tim Zimmer), Conversion (
Matthew Willemse) – 28-32 GCU
76' – GCU Try, Conversion – 28-39 GCU
UP NEXT
The Spartans will return to BC to take on the Pacific Pride on February 7 at Starlight Stadium in Langford, BC.
QUOTABLE
"Grand Canyon have an exciting squad who punished us for our mistakes and discipline. Our forwards had solid set piece, especially in the scrum, but we could not connect that through our backs to score as we wished. Basic errors led to some frustration and in the heat, it was our undoing in the second half."
"
Ethan Jurgeneit came back from injury to score two tries and lead the pack and
Arthur Baker made his first 1XV appearance for the Spartans when he replaced a solid performance from
Tim Zimmer. "
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans had a strong start to lead 14-3 after 21 minutes, but GCU would score the next the next 19 points to lead 22-14 in the 53rd minute. The Spartans cut the lead to one point 21-22 with a try two minutes later by Jurgeneit. But it would be as close as TWU would get. GCU would expand their lead to 11 points with a penalty and a converted try to go up 32-11 in the 67th minute.
Tim Zimmer cut the lead to four points with a try in the 70th minute to make it 32-28 for Grand Canyon. GCU would finish off the scoring with another converted try in the 76th minute to make the final 39-28 for Grand Canyon.
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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