LANGLEY, B.C. – The UBC Thunderbirds jumped out to a 5-1 lead and then had to battle to keep in eventually outlasting the Trinity Western Spartans 5-4 on Friday night at the George Preston Arena.
The T-Birds outshot TWU 66-36 on the night, which included 29 in the first period for UBC who found themselves up 3-0 before the game was eight minutes old on goals from Sam Huo, just over one minute in and Josh Williams who followed up with two more in just under two minutes for what would be a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes. Raphael Audet was busy tending the TWU goal making 61 saves for the Spartans who fell to 1-11-0 in conference play.
TWU's night saw goals from
Michael Spafford (Saskatoon), Mitchell Joss (Winnipeg),
Luke Spadafora (Calgary), and Boston Bird (Saskatoon), who earned his first at the Canada West level. The Thunderbirds (6-4-2) scored all their goals before the game was half over with Jake Lee adding a marker early in the second period, while Sasha Mutala's power play marker made it a 5-1 scoreline halfway through the game. The Spartans however didn't go quietly as they would score the three final goals of the contest to put a scare into the visitors.
In UBC's net, it was Cole Schwebius earning third win of the season, making 32 saves on 36 shots faced.
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans were put at odds early with Sam Huo's marker finding the back of Audet's net only 1:21 into the first period. Soon after, Williams scored twice (5:46, 7:38), putting UBC up 3-0 less than 10 minutes into the game. Spafford interrupted the Thunderbirds' party 14:04 into the first, wrapping the period up at a 3-1 line favouring UBC.
Lee (5:20) and Mutala (9:37) formed a tally of unanswered markers before Bird, a first-year, earned his first goal of his U SPORTS career 15:49 into the second period, ending the frame's score at 5-2.
The Spartans started to find their way in the third period. Joss scored his third goal of the season 10:34 into the period, then Spadafora found his fifth goal of the season three minutes later (13:52). TWU had some notable opportunities near the end of the game, but UBC held the line at 5-4 to earn their sixth victory of the season.
The Spartans host Calgary (8-3-0) next weekend (Nov. 18-19) at the George Preston Arena, while the T-Birds travel to Alberta to take on the Golden Bears for back to back meetings November 18 and 19.
