Scheduled Game: @Gonzaga

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GAME RESULTS 1 2 T Trinity Western Spartans 0 0 0 GONZAGA BULLDOGS 2 1 3 « FINAL

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Game Recap

Men's Soccer (Preseason)
Sunday, August 24, 2008
TWU Spartans (0) at Gonzaga University Bulldogs (3)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPARTANS FALL TO DIV I BULLDOGS

SPOKANE, Wash. - A veteran Bulldog squad outperformed a young Spartan line-up Sunday afternoon as the Trinity Western University men's soccer team fell 3-0 to the Gonzaga University Bulldogs in a preseason match at GU's Mulligan Field in Spokane, Wash.

"We had a number of young guys in the line up. And after coming off of a couple of good games, where we played really well, we probably came in expecting to have a good performance just by showing up - but against good opponents you cannot just show up," commented TWU head coach Al Alderson. "But that is why we play these games and it is why we go on the road. It allows us the opportunity to meet with some adversity, which we did, which we hopefully can learn and grow from and move forward."

The Bulldogs, who held an 11-0 first-half shot advantage and a 16-5 game edge, opened with a 2-0 halftime lead. Third year forward Tye Perdido, the leading returning scorer from last year's NCAA Tournament team, took a thru ball from midfielder Ben Funkhouser and buried a shot to the right corner from 12 yards in the 20th minute.

Defender Nick Barclay headed a ball into the corner past TWU keeper Andrew Kowan (2nd year, Richmond, B.C.) in the 32nd minute, the play starting on Funkhouser's corner kick, getting tossed around in the box and finding its way from fourth year midfielder Conor Baranksi to Barclay who punched in a soft header for the goal.

Gonzaga capped the scoring in the 54th minute when Perdido took a right-to-left cross from Funkhouser and tapped the ball in from six yards.

The Bulldogs had an excellent chance to take an early lead when Baranski's point-blank shot was stuffed by the Spartans Kowan and Funkhouser's rebound sailed high in the fourth minute.

The best scoring chance for the Spartans came in the 71st minute when rookie forward Garrett Traversy's (Delta, B.C.) shot from the deep right wing was headed for the far corner before Hickman made a diving stop to his right to deflect the ball past the far post.

The Spartans Kowan made five saves and played the full 90 minutes, while Gonzaga's Hickman made three saves to record the victory for the Bulldogs.

The match does not count in the record of statistics for the Bulldogs, while the Spartans, three-time defending Western Canada champions, fell to 2-2-0.

Next up for the Spartans is a non-conference match with the University of Calgary Dinos. Match time on Tuesday, August 26 at TWU is set for 7 p.m. The Spartans will follow it up the next day against Portland's Concordia University. Match time at TWU is at 1 p.m.

-TW-

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