Box Score Friday night in Vancouver, the UNBC Timberwolves put forth one of their defensive efforts of the season to date in a nail-biting 1-0 loss to the division-leading UBC Thunderbirds. The lone goal of the night came in the 16^th minute from UBC's Oliver Hebert while goalkeeper Bennett McKay earned the clean sheet. Logan Pierce was solid in goal for UNBC, adding 11 more saves to his conference-leading totals. Overall it was a defensively effort that the entire squad could be proud of, especially since the TWolves were forced to play half the game down a man after an early red card was handed out in the second half.

Isaac Tate's speed was a threat early and forced UBC into an early yellow card. Noah Hrdlicka had no other choice but to haul Isaac Tate down , otherwise the TWolves leading scorer would have had a clear break down the right wing. On the ensuing free-kick, Tate centered the ball into the box with his left foot, but Hagon Kim's spinning attempt from the left wing sailed over the UBC goal.

Pierce's first touch of the ball in the TWolves goal area didn't come until the sixth minute as he did a good job to snare a high centering effort from the right wing before the crowd of UBC bodies could get a head on it.

The offense got started in the 16^th minute from UBC as Markus Kaiser placed a slick pass through a pair of UNBC defenders and right to Oliver Herbert. From there, the second-year midfielder made no mistake in close, sending his second goal of the season past Pierce.

Two minutes later the 'Birds came up empty on their next clean look at the goal when Pierce turned aside a shot from Henri Godbout.

In the 39^th minute, Kim's free-kick from the left wing curled its way through the UBC wall of defense and on goal, but McKay made his first save of the match.

At half the T-Birds held a 7-1 edge in shots on target and a 1-0 advantage.

In the opening minute of the second half, Matteo Cuzzetto was assessed a red card for an aggressive tackle that took place three feet outside of the UNBC penalty area. On the ensuing free-kick, Chris Lee drilled a shot off the crossbar, keeping the score with one.

Down a man for essentially the entire second-half, Steve Simonson's club was forced to place an even larger emphasis in defending. That didn't seem to bother third-year defender Adam Korduner who, while appearing in his 20^th career Canada West game, made sure it was one of his best. He was positionally sound, aggressive when needed, and put forth a superb effort for 90-plus minutes en route to a Mr. Mike's Player of the Game award for his efforts.

The trio of Tate, James Jordan and Cole Gunhold combining on a good look in the early moments of the second. Tate's speed created the chance when he ran down a deep pass from Luke Graham on the left wing. Then, after cutting to the right he found Gunhold, who then deferred to Jordan on the outside. Jordan's blast from the right wing sailed over the target though, keeping the game at a 1-0 score for UBC.

The plucky TWolves weren't done.

In the 77^th minute, UNBC earned back-to-back corner kicks , but even as Koss Nystedt wreaked havoc near the UBC goal line, the TWolves couldn't generate a clean look as McKay punched the ball out of harms way on both occasions.

As stoppage time arrived, the TWolves nearly found the equalizer when Graham connected on a header from a Tate centering effort from the right side. McKay made the save, and UBC breathed a sigh of relief when the final whistle sounded a few moments later, securing their 1-0 victory.

The UNBC Timberwolves heads were held high, and deservedly so, as they put forth a wonderful defensively effort against a national championship contender.

The final shots on target favoured UBC by a 12-4 margin. The 'Birds improved their division leading record to 8-0-2 while the TWolves now sit at 1-10-2 with a rematch looming tomorrow night at 7:00 pm from Thunderbird Stadium.