Second half surge sends Bears to CW semifinal

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Alberta Golden Bears booked a Canada West semi-final spot against hosts UBC at Thunderbird Stadium on Friday night with a 3-1 victory over the Trinity Western Spartans in their quarter-final match-up.

Alberta now face UBC in Saturday's semi-final at Thunderbird Stadium with a place in next week's Canada West championship game and a spot in November's U SPORTS men's soccer championship on the line. Kick off is 7.30pm.

A close game was expected between the two evenly matched teams, so it was no surprise that they headed into half time tied at one apiece, with Alberta's Prince Amanda canceling out Trinity Western's early opener from Christian Rossi.

Alberta turned on the style in the second half and a fantastic goal from Frankroy Cain just past the hour mark and a Rilind Idrizi penalty 10 minutes time saw the Golden Bears move on and end the Spartans' season.

"We knew they're a quality team and they started quick," Alberta head coach Martin Fenger-Andersen noted after the match. "They got their goal but we were patient and kept moving the ball around knowing that last time we played them we had a lot of the ball, so we prepared for that. 

"The goal before the half helped. To go in at half time 1-1 instead of down 1-0, they'd have a bit more encouragement coming out at half. Second half, we made our chances count, which made the difference."

Alberta started the stronger and had a couple of early looks on goal.

Marcus Velado-Tsegaye forced a save from Jordan Marwood in the Spartans goal just four minutes in, before Rodane Cato had a header over and Amanda saw a shot miss to the right as the Golden Bears pushed for the early breakthrough.

The deadlock was broken in the 9th minute, but it was Trinity Western that found the opener when Rossi superbly volleyed home a Thomas Powell cross from the edge of the box with the Spartans first attack of the game.

Powell almost added a second for the Spartans with a long ranger in the 28th minute that whizzed past the left post.

Alberta were pushing hard for the leveller and they were rewarded when Amanda tied things up two minutes before the break.

Marwood had done well to deny Velado-Tsegaye again after a slick Alberta passing play, but as the Golden Bears kept the pressure on, the Spartans keeper failed to deal with a high cross to the back post from Cain and the loose ball fell to Amanda, who had the easy job of tucking it away from close range.

Powell had a long range chip for TWU to start the second half that Chris Ezoua held under his cross bar, before a ricochet off Idrizi didn't miss by much for Alberta.

The Spartans came within the width off the crossbar to retaking the lead in the 56th minute when Mario Banovic's header from a Joey Seo corner came crashing back off it.

It was an enjoyable encounter, with the action flowing end to end, and Alberta took the lead through a piece of individual brilliance from Cain, who collected a pass from Jake Bosch in the box and showed great footwork to chip the ball over Marwood to the far corner and give the Golden Bears a lead they weren't to give up.

Charles Nana had two great chances to bring the Spartans level, first denied by a great leg save from Ezoua and minutes later seeing a shot to the near post hit off the woodwork and go behind.

Alberta increased their lead in the 80th minute when Idrizi coolly fired home from the penalty spot, sparking huge Golden Bear celebrations and sealing their semi-final berth.

Cain came within inches off adding a fourth for the Albertans, but his low effort just whizzed past the left post. The Spartans had a couple of chances late on to reduce the deficit, but they couldn't make them count and the Golden Bears came away with a famous win.

With less than a 24 hour turnaround to face the nationally number ranked Thunderbirds, Fenger-Andersen knows it will be a tough task for his Golden Bears side but one they are relishing to take on.

"We'll approach it like we do every game," Fenger-Andersen said. "We're going to go for it, knowing full well they're number one. They deserve to be there, but that's what these semi-finals are all about, playing in a big game. We need our players to step up and get the job done."