Abbotsford, BC – The UFV Cascades celebrated a pair of graduating athletes in their final game of the season, but the U SPORTS No. 1 ranked UBC Thunderbirds came away with the 4-0 victory at Rotary Stadium on Sunday. 

The Cascades held a ceremony pregame to celebrate graduating players Manpal Brar and Kadir Yagci in their final games. Both Brar and Yagci who have battled injuries this season, were able to return to the squad and feature in Sunday's match. 

How it happened:
The Thunderbirds got on the scoreboard early, as Thomas Pena found the top corner from distance after receiving a pass from Sebastian Dzikowski. 

Dzikowski doubled the lead early in the second half, when he redirected a corner kick from Eric Kim toward the goal. The ball just crossed the line, and despite appearing to be waved off by the assistant referee, the goal would stand. 

Bradley Richardson made it 3-0 in the 79^th minute as he jumped on a loose ball following a cross from Pena and put it away.

Luke Norman took a feed from Asvin Chauhan in stoppage time and sealed the game with a shot inside the near post. 

Quotable:
UFV player Kadir Yagci

"It's been four and a half, almost five, years that I have been here. I've made a lot of friends and met really great people. It's a bit sad that we ended the season this way. I think we had the potential to finish better, but we were really unlucky with a lot of injuries."
 
UFV striker Manpal Brar

"It's the memories with this team, with prior teams, with the players that have already graduated, that are going to be sticking with me. You only get to do this while you're young, so I'm happy I was able to go through it and fight through the adversity and injuries, and finish it off."
   
UFV head coach Tom Lowndes

"Two guys that have greatly impacted the program, and definitely left it in a better spot than when they first joined, so I'm really happy for them to get through their university careers. I'm proud of them, and really happy to see them moving forward into the next stage of their lives."

"It's a disappointing way to end. I think we have shown glimpses this year of what we can be, but we've got to take some hard lessons along the way. But we've shown some fight, and we've shown quality at times. Now we have to adjust some things, and it's going to take some work in the off season, but if we are willing to put the work in to get better between now and next August then I'm confident we can bounce back next year for sure."