VANCOUVER, B.C. – UBC Thunderbirds claimed their 23rd Canada West men's soccer banner on Friday evening, coming away with a narrow, yet dominant, 1-0 victory over Mount Royal Cougars.
The game was a rematch of both last year's Canada West championship game and the U SPORTS bronze medal match. Both of those were settled by a single goal, with Mount Royal victorious in the former and UBC the latter, and it was no surprise that this was to be another closely contested match one year on.
Brennen Fuerst's 54th minute winner from the edge of the box was the difference between the teams on the scoreboard, in a match UBC dominated in terms of possession and with a shot count of 19 to 6 in their favour.
The victory was the perfect preparation for next week's U SPORTS nationals, securing UBC spot as the higher seed going into the tournament.
"It was a really good performance," UBC head coach
Mike Mosher said after the match. "We knew there was going to be difficult moments and it's harder to play. They're well organized and they make it difficult. I said to the guys at half time that it's going to take a moment of quality and don't make mistakes.
"Ironically, we almost got caught right before the goal and then turned that into the goal and Brennen's strike is terrific. You always knew it was going to be tight and I thought it was a good game, both teams looking to go at each other and in terms of opportunities for them, we didn't concede much."
The first half saw defences very much on top, with neither team registering a shot in the first half hour.
UBC found their attacking spark to end the half, with Sjard Strauss saving an
Oliver Herbert shot in the 31st minute before denying
Joven Mann at his near post three minutes later.
Luke Norman headed narrowly wide for the Thunderbirds with five minutes remaining, but the teams headed into the break scoreless, with the Cougars failing to register a shot in the first half.
UBC continued to dominate the play to start the second half and they finally got the breakthrough in the 54th minute on a fantastic transition play.
Lucas Dasovic played the ball back to Thunderbirds goalkeeper
Bennett McKay and his long clearance sprang
Chris Lee, who powered forward before playing the ball inside to Fuerst. The midfielder took a touch inside before blasting home past Strauss from the edge of the box for his first goal of the year and what proved to be the match winner.
Herbert and Fuerst again almost added to UBC's lead in the next few minutes before Godbout had a couple of chances just past the midway mark of the half.
Mount Royal had to open up and Alex Kemsley had an acrobatic effort in the 70th minute before McKay saved a header from Josh Flaksman.
The Cougars tried to push for the late leveller, but the Thunderbirds backline held firm, with a wide Dawid Dudek shot deep in the stoppage time the closest they came.
Both Mount Royal and UBC will now head east for next week's U SPORTS nationals in Oshawa, Ontario. Hosted by Ontario Tech, the tournament will run from November 7th to 10th, with all the action available to watch on CBC Sports and CBC Gem.
