Langley, BC – The UFV Cascades got goals from Kian Proctor and Michael Beecroft but could not overcome an early deficit, as they fell 5-2 to the Trinity Western University Spartans on Friday evening in Langley. 

The Loss drops the Cascades to 2-9 on the season, while the Spartans improve to 5-2-5 this year. With just five games left to go in the campaign for the Cascades, they currently sit seven points out of the final playoff spot held by Thompson Rivers University.

How it happened:
The Cascades fell behind in the seventh minute after a controversial hand ball call on Beecroft in the box set up a penalty kick for the Spartans that was converted by Thomas Powell. 

TWU doubled their lead in the 20^th minute, when Christian Rossi drove to the byline and played a cut back to Luca Alberti who snuck it past UFV keeper Kody Torrance.

Despite the early adversity, UFV would fight back to cut the lead to one in first half stoppage time. Carson Muter played a long ball to Jeevan Dhaliwal on the left wing, and his left-footed cross found the head of Proctor, who buried his team leading third goal of the season. 
 

MSOC | Kian Proctor finishes off the ball from Jeevan Dhaliwal just before the halftime break! ??

UFV 1-2 TWU#weclimbweconquer pic.twitter.com/d4tQcVjPCZ

— UFV Cascades (@UFVCascades) October 7, 2023

Alberti took advantage of a scramble in the 49^th minute to make it 3-1, but the Cascades responded right back. Proctor played a cross in from the right wing and Beecroft was able to get to it first, as he placed the header inside the right post. 
 

MSOC | After a TWU goal early in the half, Michael Beecroft comes up with the response to pulls us back within one!#weclimbweconquer pic.twitter.com/eHpqsruo6M

— UFV Cascades (@UFVCascades) October 7, 2023

Unfortunately, that was as close as UFV would come, as goals from Keishean Francois and Mario Banovic sealed the victory for TWU.

Quotable:
UFV head coach Tom Lowndes
"The early decision on the penalty killed us. You train all week and then a decision gets made that puts us in a bad spot early, and then you're up against it in a tough place to play. After that I was proud of our battle tonight, we didn't quit, and we fought to the end against a very good team."

"We have battled through adversity all season. Again, I can't say enough about how proud I am. We have been dealt some tough situations this year, and we have taken them on admirably. We have a great team culture, but we are struggling to get results right now and that's the brutal reality of it."

"We have to take it one game at a time now. We'll focus on Sunday to try to get a result and keep ourselves alive."

Up Next:
The Cascades will face the Spartans in a rematch on Sunday at Rotary Stadium in Abbotsford. Kickoff is scheduled for 3pm, and the game can also be streamed live on Canada West TV.