KELOWNA, British Columbia – Spartans fourth-year forward
Mansha Sidhu (Surrey, B.C.) notched her first career hat-trick ('27, '43, '56) to lead Trinity Western to a dominant 4-1 victory over the UBC Okanagan Heat Friday night at Nonis Field in Kelowna, B.C. The win moves the Spartans to 4-1-2, while the loss keeps the Heat winless at 0-4-1.
Also scoring for the Spartans was fourth-year forward
Charis Wardrope (Maple Ridge, B.C.) ('22).
Scoring the lone goal for the Heat was Katie Scarth ('4).
TWU fourth-year keeper Yamine Pahal (Surrey, B.C.) made two saves to earn her 22nd career win, the third most in Spartan history, while Allyson Ford made five saves in the Heat's loss.
QUOTABLE
Graham Roxburgh, TWU Head Coach
"After a slow start, I was really pleased how we responded and started to find our legs after 20 minutes. Obviously, I'm pleased that we were able to tie fairly quickly, and then we settled down and started playing great finishes by Mansha and an overall great team effort, and it was really awesome to see so many young players get their experience tonight."
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now head with back to the BC Lower Mainland to take on the UBC Thunderbirds Saturday at Thunderbird Stadium. Match time is set for 6 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
AS IT HAPPENED
The Heat opened the scoring in the fourth minute off a corner-kick scramble. UBC Okanagan's Scarth found the lower left corner after Rowan MacPherson's shot was blocked by a TWU defender, giving the Heat an early 1-0 lead. The Spartans' Wardrope got the equalizer in the 22nd minute. Off a TWU corner kick from Sidhu, TWU fifth-year forward
Sophie Crowther (New Westminster, B.C.) found Wardrope in the box, who deflected the ball into the top of the UBC Okanagan net to tie the match at 1-1. Sidhu put the Spartans in the lead in the 27th minute when her free kick from distance on the left side of the park went over Ford and just under the crossbar to make it 2-1 for the Spartans. Sidhu got her second of the match in the 43rd minute when she stole the ball from a Heat defender inside the UBC Okanagan penalty area and beat Ford to put TWU up 3-1 with two minutes remaining in the half. TWU finished the half with a 9-4 edge in total shots and a 6-2 edge in shots on goal.
Sidhu got here third of the match in the 56th minute. Off a TWU corner kick, Spartans' third-year midfielder
Veronica Walter (Calgary, AB) picked up a clearing header and found Sidhu in the center of the six-yard box to make it 4-1 for the Spartans. The Spartans controlled much of the play over the second half to finish to secure the win. TWU finished with a 5-3 edge in total shots in the final 45 minutes, and a 3-1 edge in shots on goal.
NOTABLE
- The Spartans outshot the 14-7 in total shots, and 9-3 in shots on goal
- TWU ended the match with a 7-3 edge in corner kicks.
- With the win, Pahal moves ahead of former Spartan keeper Angela Garriott ('04) for sole possession of third place on TWU's career list.
- UBC Okanagan's goal in the fourth minute snaps the TWU shutout streak at 207 minutes.
- Sophie Crowther now has 51 career conference points, to sit alone in fourth in program history, and her 32 career conference assists rank second in Canada West history behind Seina Kashima's ('18) 40.
- With her one shot on target, Crowther now has 106 career shots on goal, which is 10th in Canada West history. She now sits one shot behind former Spartan Seina Kashima, who is ninth with 107.
- Last week at Chase Office Field, the No. 9 Spartans played Victoria to a 0-0 draw Friday before defeating UNBC 1-0 Saturday. Mansha Sidhu scored the winner from the penalty spot, while Yasmine Pahal made three saves for her second shutout of the weekend.
- Last week, UBC Okanagan lost 4-0 at UBC and drew 2-2 at Fraser Valley.
- Sidhu is tied with 10 other Spartans for third spot in most goals in a game in the TWU record books. Former Spartan Daniel Gerig ('11) holds the TWU record with five goals in a 9-0 win over the Regina Cougars on September 26, 2008.
- TWU is 16-0-1 all-time against the Heat and have won 14 straight in the series.
- Tonight's win comes exactly 10 years after TWU's 3-0 win at UBCO on Sept. 25, 2016, which began its current series winning streak.
- The teams will meet two more times during the regular season, October 2 in Kelowna and October 16 in Langley.
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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