EDMONTON - The top-seeded Alberta Golden Bears advanced to their third-straight Canada West Semifinal thanks to a 3-0 shutout win over the Trinity Western Spartans on Friday afternoon at Foote Field.
Caden Ruby,
Rodane Cato, and
Marcus Velado-Tsegaye scored for Alberta, with
Liam Collens stopping all four Spartans shots he faced in the shutout win. All four of Ruby, Cato, Velado-Tsegaye, and Collens were named Canada West All-Stars on Thursday morning, with Alberta's top players performing in their playoff opener.
It also marks the second-straight season the Bears have bounced the Spartans in the conference quarter-final.
"We got off to a great start, we had a lot of control of the game in the first half. We created a lot of chances," said Alberta head coach
Martin Fenger-Andersen. "Credit to Trinity. They flipped the script on us in the second half. We were able to soak up some of their pressure, and the third goal took the sting out of their attack."
Alexander Cordeiro stopped seven of the 10 Alberta shots he faced, which included a pair of tough stops in the first half to keep the game within reach. Alberta outshot Trinity Western 15-13 in the match, with the second half even favouring the road side. Despite the ramped up pressure, however, the Spartans were unable to generate quality looks from in close.
Ruby, one of two Bears named to the CW All-Rookie team, opened the scoring in the 31st minute, beating Cordeiro off a beautiful ball in stride from
Rilind Idrizi. It only took six minutes for the Bears to double their lead, with Cato heading in a cross from
Jackson Belbin, who was named the Bears man of the match. Ruby, who had been an offensive spark for the team all season, finished with a team-high four shots.
"That's the word, he's a spark," said Fenger-Andersen of Ruby. "He's full of energy, but he is also full of quality. The energy he brings is matched by the quality he brings. He has goals in him; he's been a great addition to the team."
To their credit, Trinity Western was a new team in the second half. They took advantage of sloppy passes from the Bears, pressured the ball carrier, and created turnovers. Despite the increase in ball possession however, they were unable to breakdown the Bears defence. Charles Nana led Trinity Western in their attack, finishing with a match-high five shots. Both of his shots on target were turned aside by Collens in the Bears net.
Velado-Tsegaye iced the win in the 73rd minute, taking a long ball from
Prince Amanda, before making a defender and Cordeiro miss in the box, before slotting in the insurance marker.
Alberta will now host Mount Royal on Sunday afternoon, with the winner of their semifinal clash advancing to the Canada West Final, and booking a spot at the U SPORTS Championship in two weeks.
