Box Score Saskatoon, SK - The University of the Fraser Valley men's soccer team outlasted the University of Saskatchewan Huskies to come away with a 5-3 victory.
With the win, the Cascades improve to 2-4 on the year, while the Huskies drop to 1-4-2.
The goals started early as Ivan Mejia was sent in alone by
Manpal Brar, and Mejia finished it nicely underneath the outstretched keeper to open his Canada West account in the ninth minute.
The lead would only last two minutes, as the Huskies' Kuhle Bekwayo finished off a feed from Ahmed Mohammed.
Saskatchewan would earn a penalty after a foul in the 17
th minute, and Diego Reveco stepped up to the spot and slotted it home to give his team a 2-1 lead.
The Cascades pushed for an equalizer, and they would find another new contributor to bring them level, as
Carson Muter scored his first career goal off a
Jeevan Dhaliwal corner kick.
Mikael Mainella gave UFV the lead once again in the 39
th minute as he got a hold of a bouncing ball in the box and finished it neatly into the bottom right corner.
The second half started just as frenetic as the first, as Saskatchewan's Ajani Fountaine got on the end of a cross and knocked it home in the 50
th minute to pull his team level once again.
UFV re-established their lead just seconds later, as
Mateo Brazinha took advantage of a long ball forward and slotted it home in the 51
st minute.
Brar doubled the lead for the Cascades in the 69
th minute. After receiving a pass from Mejia, he made a nice move in the box and slid it past the keeper to make it 5-3.
Saskatchewan had a glorious chance to pull one back in the 84
th minute, but a shot from Bekwayo struck the crossbar and a rebound chance from Revco was smothered by Cascades keeper
Jackson Cowx.
"I thought the boys were excellent UFV head coach
Tom Lowndes said post-game. "There were so many ups and downs in that game. I thought we showed great resolve and a lot of resiliency."
"Especially when it went 3-3 just after halftime, we could have hung our heads, but we've gone right down the other end and scored to take the wind out of their sails. We said yesterday that the game is made up of moments and taking your opportunities, and we did that today."
Lowndes celebrated his attacking players for creating problems all game.
"They battled for each other for 90 minutes and we scored some really good goals. We have been knocking on the door for a couple of weeks now and this result shows what kind of offensive power we have."
"I also thought
Carson Muter was excellent and to see him cap it off with a goal today, as a first-year stepping into the back line, it's fantastic — he's been great all weekend and he deserves it."
The Cascades now return home to take on the Alberta Golden Bears on Friday at Rotary Stadium (7 p.m. kickoff, canadawest.tv).
