Mark Janzen, Trinity Western University

LANGLEY, B.C. – The No. 3-ranked Trinity Western's women's soccer team dropped a 3-0 decision against No. 4 UBC to open its Canada West regular season Friday at Chase Office Field.

UBC (1-1-0) scored two goals inside the first four minutes, with Aman Shergill and Jasmin Dhanda tallying in the second and fourth minutes to set the table for the contest. Shergill scored again in the 17th minute to all but secure the victory.

The Spartans (0-1-0) pushed back over the final 70 minutes and were much sharper in the second half, but were unable to beat UBC goalie Marlee Maracle, who finished with one save for the clean sheet.

In what was a rematch of last year's Canada West final, the result proved identical, with the T-Birds picking up a 3-0 victory at Chase Office Field for the second time in as many visits.

The loss snaps the Spartans 27-match regular season unbeaten. The last time TWU lost a regular season game was Sept. 11, 2015 when the Spartans lost 2-0 against UBC.

Despite a boisterous home crowd looking to spur on the Spartans, the T-Birds earned a quick strike when Dhanda sent a cross into the box and Shergill headed it past TWU goalkeeper Rachel Sydor (Tsawwassen, B.C.), who finished with two saves.

Dhanda then got on the scoreboard herself just over a minute later, taking a pass up the middle and beating Sydor.

The T-Birds continued to push forward and were once again rewarded in the 17th minute, with Shergill securing the brace. With a cross coming in off the right side, the UBC striker slid in and knocked it home.

QUOATABLE
TWU Head Coach Graham Roxburgh
On the Match
"You can't start that passive and expect to play against one of the best teams in the country. We were poor in the first 20 minutes. I thought after that we started to come into the game. We generated one or two chances in the second half, but I thought we thoroughly deserved to lose. We have some girls who are veterans who, for some reason, didn't work hard tonight."

NOTABLE
• The Spartans were unbeaten all last year during the regular season, posting an 11-0-3 record.
• The T-Birds bounced back after falling 1-0 against Victoria in their season-opener.
• TWU rookies Aliya Coy (Calgary), Bella Roque (Surrey, B.C.) and Kathryn Harvey (Coquitlam, B.C.) all made their Spartans debuts Friday night.

UP NEXT: TWU is back on the pitch Saturday (5 p.m.) when it hosts Victoria, while UBC is on the road to take on Fraser Valley.

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