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Overtime PK Sends Mount Royal to the Semis

MRU defeats Victoria 2-1 in overtime

Overtime PK Sends Mount Royal to the Semis
October 25, 2024

Abel Nesibu sent the Mount Royal Cougars into the Canada West Semifinal, beating Victoria keeper Callum Weir from the penalty spot in the 113th minute to secure a 2-1 win for MRU.

It is the second-straight season MRU has ended the Vikes season, doing so with a 3-1 extra time win in the 2023 semifinal. The Cougars will now advance to take on the winner of the Alberta vs Trinity Western quarter-final on Sunday afternoon in Edmonton. 

Victoria was forced down to nine players at the end of extra time, having suffered two red cards in a hotly contested match. Pushing for penalty kicks, a hard foul from Alex Moody on Finn Marshall inside the box set up the game-winning penalty.

Miguel Da Rocha scored the opening goal for MRU in the 14th minute, with Harry Ritter West scoring the equalizer for Victoria in the 50th. 

Both teams came out with high intensity play, resulting in a back-and-forth first 10 minutes of action. The aggressive start paid off for the Cougars, who got on the board early with a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute. Josh Flaksman challenged Archie Tugwell for the ball near midfield and won, taking off down field. Avoiding an oncoming Vikes defender with a quick pass over to Da Rocha, who connected with the ball in-stride to get it in the back of the net and put Mount Royal ahead.

Despite the Vikes holding the 9-6 edge in shots taken at the end of the first half, the Cougars held a 3-2 advantage in shots on goal and held the 1-0 lead after the first 45 minutes of play.

Victoria equalized right out of the gate to start the second half. A long ball was sent from Fin Tugwell to Jack Napier-Ganley just outside the box, who quickly tapped it to Jag Zaharia. Zaharia moved towards the end line before serving the ball to Ritter West, who scored to pull the game even, 1-1, in the 50th minute. Ole Cameron nearly double the Vikes’ lead three minutes later, but his shot hit the post and the game remained tied.

Da Rocha attempted to win it for his side in the 83rd minute, taking advantage of a scrambling Vikes defence. However, his shot was cleared off the goal line. 

Neither team found the back of the net in the first 15 minutes of overtime, but Mount Royal netted the game-winner eight minutes into the second overtime period. Nesibu sent the ball to the right while Callum Weir dove left. 

The Vikes threw everything they could at the Cougars in the final minutes, with Weir even firing off a shot that was saved by Sjard Strauss. Victoria had three-straight corners follow, but the MRU defense held strong and kept the Vikes out of the back of the net for the remaining time to seal the 2-1 victory.

Victoria finished with the 20-17 lead in shots taken, but Mount Royal put eight of their shots on target to the Vikes’ six. Strauss finished with five saves for the Cougars in the win, while Weir tallied six for UVic in net.

Highlights