Men’s Soccer
Chilliwack, BC….The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds defeated the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades, 4-2, in the Cascades home opener in their new home Exhibition Field, in Chilliwack, BC. The Cascades Canada West regular season record stands at 0-1-0 while UBC’s record improves tro 3-0-0.
The Cascades came out strong and challanged the CIS number six ranked Thunderbirds right from the opening whistle. The Cascades offense tested UBC’s defense right away with second year defender Colton O’Neill, Abbotsford, BC having the game’s first scoring opportunity when he collected a Sasa Plavsic, Coquitlam, BC pass and drilled a shot on the UBC goalkeeper Luke O’Shea, Richmond, BC. UFV kept the pressure on UBC early in the match and would score the game’s first goal nine minutes in when Plavsic’s perfect corner kick found Connor O’Neill, Abbotsford, BC right in front of the UBC keeper and O’Neill one timed his shot into the Thunderbirds net to score the Cascades first ever CIS goal at Exhibition Field.
The game continued at a fast pace with both O’Shea and UFV’s goalkeeper Mark Village, Abbotsford, BC making several key saves to keep both sies in the match. The Thunderbirds would tie the match in the 25th minute when Navid Mashinchi, Port Moody, BC set up Gagandeep Dosanjh, Abbotsford, BC who cleanly beat Village. The Cascades went right back to work attacking the UBC’s defense and less than ten minutes later Craig Robinson, Chilliwack, BC stole the ball from an UBC defender and crossed it to Cole Almond, Maple Ridge, BC who made no mistake with a riffle shot that beat O’Shea to give UFV the lead at 2-1. The Cascades continued to hold onto the lead until late in the half, but then were called for a foul in the box and UBC was awarded a penalty shot. Marco Visintin, Vancouver, BC beat Village to send the match into the break tied at two.
The second half started the same way as the first, fast pace soccer with lots of scoring opportunties for both teams. The Cascades had great scoring opportunties only to be turned away by O’Shea. The Thunderbirds would take the lead for the first time in the 68th minute when the referee called UFV for another infraction in the box resulting in Visintin’s second penalty kick goal. UBC would add a fourth goal two minutes later when Mashinchi scored for the Thunderbirds giving them a two goal lead. The Cascades would continue to battle but UBC shut down UFV in the second half to perserve the victory and improve to three regular season wins in the early part of the Canada West season.
“We played well tonight. It was a terrific effort by our team. The lack of experience showed up at time tonight, against a very good UBC team,” said UFV head coach Alan Errington. “I was pleased with our performance it showed us we belong in the mix for the post season.” The Cascades captain Craig Robinson agrees with his coach, “It is hard to lose our homeopener, but we played well and proved to ourselves we can compete in Canada West this year for a post season spot.”
UFV travels to Langley, BC tomorrow to face their arch rivals the TWU Spartans, 2-0-1, game time set for 7PM.
UBC 2 2 = 4 (3-0-0)
UFV 2 0 = 2 (0-1-0)
Scoring
First Half:
08:56 UFV C O’Neill (S Plavsic)
25:23 UBC Dosanjh (Mashinchi)
32:12 UFV Almond
45:00 UBC Visintin (PK)
Second Half:
67:37 UBC Visintin (PK)
69:55 UBC Mashinchi (O’Connor)
Goalkeepers:
UBC: O’Shea 5 saves / UFV: Village 4 saves
Shots on Goal:
UBC: 23/ UFV: 19
Corner Kicks:
UBC: 8/ UFV: 0
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