The Trinity Western Spartans dropped a 1-0 decision to the UBC Thunderbirds in a battle of two of the country's top 10 men's soccer teams.
The host Thunderbirds received a goal in the 14th minute from Sean Haley, and that would be enough to end the Spartans six-game unbeaten streak.
With the result, UBC moved up in the national polls on Oct. 11, going from second to first. Trinity Western, despite the loss, also moved up, going from ninth to eighth.
On the winning goal, the Thunderbirds' Tyson Keam 鈥� a 91原创 United product 鈥� swung a beautiful ball in towards the far post on a free kick from 30 yards out. Haley rose above the crowd and headed home the ball past Spartans keeper Andrew Fink.
The win gives UBC (5-0-3, 18 points) a four-point cushion over Trinity Western (4-2-2, 14 points) in the race for first place in Canada West.
"I'm disappointed with the result but not how we played," said Spartans coach Pat Rohla.
"We have to learn that games are won and lost in the box and on restarts and we need to be better in those aspects."
"It was a good game for us overall," he said. "I thought we had a lot of pressure on them, especially in the second half."
The Spartans finished with five shots on goal, while Fink made two saves in the loss.
Trinity Western is on the road this weekend, in Victoria on Saturday to face the Vikes (4-2-2, 14 points) and Sunday in Abbotsford against the Fraser Valley Cascades (1-6-1, four points).
