LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western's Benard Bjorndal and Dominik Krajsek scored two tries apiece, but the No. 6-ranked Spartans lost 45-24 against No. 3 Victoria Friday at The Stadium at the Langley Events Centre. 

After trailing 33-7 at the break and, after two more Vikes tries, 45-7 by the 57th minute, the Spartans finished well, storming back to cap the contest with three tries in a row to close the gap to 21 points by the final whistle. 

The Vikes opened the scoring in the fourth minute, but a Krajsek try four minutes later – set up by a driving maul off a TWU lineout – evened the score 7-7. However, the Vikes scored the next 38 points to build a lead that would prove insurmountable. 

With both teams going to their benches, the Spartans put together a dominant final 20 minutes and capitalized on their opportunities to score the final 17 points of the match. 

The Spartans are 0-2 in the Coastal Cup, having lost to UBC in their season-opener. Victoria is 1-1, having also suffered a setback against UBC. 

TWU is 2-9 all-time against UVIC.

The Spartans are on a path towards hosting the 2026 McTavish Cup – the Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship – Nov. 17-21 at The Stadium at the Langley Events Centre.

Scoring Summary 
4' – UVIC TRY Jaxson Jones (convert made) 7-0 UVIC 
8' – TWU TRY Dominik Krajsek (Bernabé Sosa Rey convert made) 7-7 Tied
11' – UVIC TRY Ronnin Smith (convert made) 14-7 UVIC
16' – UVIC TRY Reece Thompson 19-7 UVIC
29' – UVIC TRY Jeffery Young (convert made) 26-7 UVIC
34' – UVIC TRY Alex Gamage (convert made) 33-7 UVIC

50' – UVIC TRY Greg Leitch 38-7 UVIC
57'' – UVIC TRY Lachlan Crooks (convert made) 45-7 UVIC
60' – TWU TRY Benard Bjorndal 45-12 UVIC
68' – TWU TRY Dominik Krajsek (Bernabé Sosa Rey convert made) 45-19 UVIC
80' – TWU TRY Benard Bjorndal 45-24 UVIC

QUOTABLE
Andrew Evans, TWU Head Coach 
"Overall it was a good improvement from our outing against UBC a couple weeks ago. We just shot ourselves in the foot a few times in the first half, especially when we could have come away with points and we let you Victoria off the hook. Then there we some phases on defence when we let UVIC score way too easily. That being said, give credit to our boys in the second half. We had some really good impact performances off the bench and we were able to score three tries in the second half, which is always a good thing against a really good UVIC side. 

"We still have a lot of work to do, but we have a lot of young players who are working incredibly hard each week, so I do like the way we're tracking for the season, especially with hosting nationals. We have a lot of players putting their hands up for contention for starting positions, so that's always exciting to see as. Dominik Krajsek had a great game scoring two tries. Ben Bjorndal was a menace on attack and defence today and Tim Zimmer was a beast as per usual. Bernabe Sosa Rey was able to put together a good match and he looked dangerous at times, which was great to see."

UP NEXT
TWU will prepare to host UBC Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. at The Stadium at Langley Events Centre. The game will be streamed live on CBC Sports. 

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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