SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Trinity Western Spartans finished their California preseason tour 1-2 after dropping the final match of the tour 2-0 to the Santa Barbara Gauchos Saturday night at Meredith Field at Theodore Harder Stadium in Santa Barbara, Calf.
 
The Gauchos outshot the Spartans 15-4 in total shots, with TWU's Yasmine Pahal making seven saves in the loss.
 
The two teams were scoreless after the opening half, with the Gauchos scoring twice in the final 32 minutes. Avery Standish opened the scoring in the 59th minute, with Hayden Halscheid getting the insurance goal in the 86th minute. Brynn Korpela and Maddie Buckley split the goalkeeping duties for UCSB, with Korpela making one save in the shared shutout win.

QUOTABLE
Graham Roxburgh, TWU Head Coach 
"A really good game. We love coming here. They're a great host, very technical team, and I thought it was a really even game up until an unfortunate first goal. ?Yazi's made a good play, just couldn't hold it, and they just beat us to the spot. Prior to that, I thought it was a pretty even game in terms of midfield battles. They moved the ball so well; I thought we did a good job to frustrate them. Obviously last 20 minutes, we're starting to change players, with both teams getting ready for their season. ?I'm disappointed to give away the second goal so late, but overall, I thought our kids did a great job with their work ethic and generated a few chances. I thought Mansha Sidhu was really lively today, and I thought our midfield were industrious without necessarily connecting passes as much as we normally could."

"Rihanna MacDonald was outstanding in the backfield. To be honest, everybody in the back tonight just really withstood the pressure and wasted some of the challenges. They went very direct at times. And we handled that really well. ?So, um, overall, a great game. Disappointed that the scoreline doesn't necessarily reflect the game, but we'll take it because, you know, we've played a very good team here tonight. We've run with them really well."

UP NEXT
TWU will now have a week off before heading to Bellingham, Wash. to take on the Western Washington Vikings on Monday, August 17. Match time for the cross-border friendly is set for 5 p.m. PT. 

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 15 U SPORTS team championships and 35 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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