by Scott Stewart, TWU Sports Info

LANGLEY, B.C. - Add Rebecca Ferguson (Calgary) to the mix of Spartan snipers for 2009. The fourth year forward tallied twice in the first half to lead the No. 1 Trinity Western Spartans to a 2-0 win over the No. 9 UBC Thunderbirds Saturday night at TWU's Langley, B.C. campus.

But it was the Spartans as a group that shone as TWU controlled the play and outshot UBC 18-6.The win gives the Spartans a sweep of the Thunderbirds and keeps TWU without a blemish at 4-0-0, while the loss drops UBC to 1-2-1.

"We knew that they would come at us with their firepower and I thought that they were the better team in the first twenty minutes as they got balls behind us as we were a bit shaky to start," commented TWU head coach Graham Roxburgh. "But we settled down and we were dangerous as we started to get our quick players in behind their back line. Once that happened our midfielders took more control in keeping possession of the ball and winning balls back. So overall it's great that Becca got the two goals, but in reality I think that it was a good corporate win. Everybody contributed to this win."

In the defending CIS champions first two weekends it was Nikki Wright (Cloverdale, B.C.) with two goals in week one and Alicia Tesan (Vancouver) with two in week two. Now Ferguson is added to the list of Spartans with multiple goals who average over .500 goals per game.

Ferguson opened the scoring in the 22nd minutes off of a Spartan corner kick. She curved the ball from the left corner towards the near post of the Thunderbird net. UBC keeper Leah Peric (Vancouver) was able to make contact with the ball but was unable to prevent it from crossing the goal line as TWU took the early 1-0 lead.

Seventeen minutes later Ferguson was at it again. This time she was going up the right side of the park after a perfectly played through ball from midfielder Natalie Boyd (Surrey, B.C.) sprung Ferguson free behind the UBC back line. Ferguson went in alone on Peric and sent a high shot over the charging keeper and into the top of the Thunderbirds net to give TWU a 2-0 lead in the 39th minute. "Becca's second goal was really well taken on a great splitting pass from Natalie Boyd. Our centre back's were definitely unsung heroes today," added Roxburgh.

The Thunderbirds best chances came early in the contest as they had some pressure on the TWU back line. But UBC was unable to get anything dangerous with their chances as the Spartans led 2-0 at the half. TWU finished the half with an 8-5 advantage in shots.

The second half was even better for the Spartans. If not for some stellar goaltending by Peric the score would have been more in favour of TWU as the home team held a 10-1 edge in shots in the second frame. In the 65th minute TWU's Alicia Tesan was in alone at the right side of the UBC box. Peric charged the rookie forward and was able to force the shot high and wide left to keep the Thunderbirds within two. In the 88th minute Peric once again shone as she stopped TWU's Wright from point blank range inside the six yard box after diving in front of the hard shot and smothering the rebound.

Peric, who started in place of injured all-Canadian keeper Jaclyn Dunnett (Burnaby, B.C.), finished the match with five saves in the loss, while TWU's Kristen Funk (Calgary) made one save to record her second shut-out of the season. Janine Frazao (Port Moody, B.C.) led the Thunderbirds with two shots, one on target, while Daniela Gerig (Fort Langley, B.C.) led the Spartans with four shots.

The Spartans will now take their perfect record on the road to the far side of the prairies where they will battle the University of Regina and the University of Manitoba on Sat. Oct. 3 and Sun. Oct. 4. The Thunderbirds will also take on the Bisons and the Cougars as they look to get back in the win column. After next weekend the two teams, who are travel partners, will have played five of their first six matches on the road.

Match Notes: Not since Sept. 9, 2006, when UBC dropped the Canada West opener 2-0 to No. 3-ranked Victoria (3-1-0), have the Thunderbirds been under .500 during the CW season. UBC started that season 2-3-1, but would finish 14-4-2 and go on to win the CIS national championship with a 3-1 win over Queen's University?The Spartans, which have a lifetime record of 6-12-5, have now won three straight against the Thunderbirds dating back to last year's Canada West play-offs? Ferguson's goals were her first two goals of the season and it was the first two-goal game of her career.