Mark Janzen, Trinity Western University

LANGLEY, B.C. – The Trinity Western men's soccer team was forced to settle for a draw for the third straight match, after playing to a 0-0 tie against Thompson Rivers Friday at Chase Office Field.

Since kicking off their season with a win and a loss, the Spartans have earned just a single point in each of their last three contests and have done so in scoreless fashion in two of those three matches.

First-year Sebastian Colyn (Langley) earned his second clean sheet of the season and had to come up with a couple of timely saves, including an impressive kick save on TRU's Mitchell Popadynetz in the ninth minute.

TRU netminder Lubomir Magdolen was slightly busier than his counterpart, as he needed to make five save to help his team escape with a draw.

The tie marks the first time TRU has taken points from the Spartans at Chase Office Field. Prior to Friday, TWU was 3-0 against the WolfPack at home.

The WolfPack had the jump early on, but couldn't find their finish and, having weather a bit of storm, the Spartans responded.

TWU had two of its better chances of the match came late in the opening half, but a quality opportunity from Domenic Poletto (Calgary) missed the net high, while Cody Fransen (Lynden, Wash.) sent his attempt wide left.

After a lively first half, the second half had a more plodding approach. Inside the final 20 minutes, the Spartans pushed for the winner, but nonetheless came up empty-handed.

A pair of close offside calls stymied two of TWU's best chances late in the second half.

A 73rd-minute header on target from Elie Gindo (Langley) nearly broke the deadlock, but Magdolen made the save.

QUOATABLE
TWU Head Coach Mike Shearon
On the Match
"It was another good night between two good teams. I thought we were sloppy in the first few minutes of the game and didn't connect our passes and they took advantage of that. Fortunately, (Colyn) came up big for us a couple of times with a few huge saves to keep it nil-nil.

"I thought we were better in the second half and created a few chances. I thought we were a bit unlucky with a few of the offsides – they were tight, so who knows. They're goalie came up huge off a corner and those are times we need to get a little luck to get a goal here and there. Obviously, we're disappointed because we're not scoring enough. At the same time, I thought we played a very good match against a very good team."

NOTABLE
• Since TWU scored five goals in its season-opener against Victoria, the Spartans have combined for just two goals over their last four outings.
• TRU's Justin Donaldson, who came into the game with a conference-high 20 shots, was held to just one shot.
• The WolfPack have drawn back-to-back games after playing to a 2-2 tie with UBC last Sunday.

UP NEXT
The Spartans host UBC Okanagan Saturday at 7:15 p.m. (PT) at Chase Office Field. TRU will travel to play Fraser Valley Saturday at 8 p.m. (PT).

-TW-