VANCOUVER, B.C. – Mateo brazinha's 75
th minute thunderbolt saw the UFV Cascades push the No. 2 ranked team in the nation to the absolute limit, but the Abbotsford based team came up just short after 120 minutes of play at Thunderbird Stadium on Sunday in Vancouver.
With the win the UBC Thunderbirds booked their berth at this year's U SPORTS men's soccer championship, and next week's Canada West championship game, with a hard fought 4-2 extra time victory over the University of Fraser Valley Cascades.
The Cascades defied expectations all seasons, as they ranked 11
th in the annual Canada West coaches poll at the start of the season, but after Friday's penalty shootout victory, the all-BC Canada West semi-final was always going to be a closely contested affair between two teams that have a plethora of attacking talent and hard to break down defences, and it needed 120 minutes of soccer to find the winner.
Oliver Herbert pulled the strings in the first half for UBC, grabbing two assists as Joven Mann and Henri Godbout gave the Thunderbirds the lead at the break, with
Ebi Igali capitalizing on a great pass from
Kevin Mailand in between for UFV.
Mateo Brazinha scored a thunder strike for UFV with 15 minutes to go, to send the match into extra time and give the Cascades a boost, but Eric Lajeunesse scored his first goals of the season to send UBC into another Canada West championship game and back to nationals.
"Firstly, fair play to UFV, they made it very difficult," UBC head coach Mike Mosher mused after the match. "Their second goal was as good a strike as you're going to see at any level."
It was an entertaining start to the first, with both teams showing their attacking prowess.
The first chance fell to UBC eight minutes in, with Godbout heading a Chris Lee corner off the outside of the back stanchion.
The Thunderbirds got the early breakthrough they were looking for in the 11th minute on a quick transition play that saw Herbert play the ball outside to a streaking Mann, who finished to the far corner with aplomb.
UBC's lead was to last just three minutes before UFV found the equalizer with a fantastic team goal.
Mailand played a nice give and go to get into the box, centering for Igali to tuck it away past Bennett McKay from six yards out.
Cascades goalkeeper
Jackson Cowx came up with a couple of big saves to first deny a fierce Herbert strike and then a Mann effort, but he couldn't do anything to stop the Thunderbirds going back into the lead in the 38th minute.
Once again it was Herbert causing problems for the Cascades backline, showing great tenacity to win the ball back in the box before sending a dangerous ball across goal, that just eluded Mann, but Godbout was on hand to direct the ball home and UBC went into the half with the lead.
The second half saw an incredible 75th strike from Brazinha to equalize. His 25 yard volley beat McKay to level the game at two apiece, and send the game into extra time.
UBC went ahead for the third time in the afternoon in the 101st minute when Lajeunesse rose superbly to head home a Fuerst free kick, and with UFV desperately trying to find another leveller in the dying embers of the match, the Thunderbirds broke quickly from a Cascades free kick, and with Cowx committed up the pitch, Lajeunesse found the empty net on the last kick of the game.
The Cascades used 2024 as a bounce back season, where they posted a program best 8-5-3 record after an injury plagued year in 2023 saw them put up a 3-13 season wherethey missed the playoffs.
"It's such a special group," said head coach
Tom Lowndes after the game.
"Coming on the back of Friday and another 120 minutes, and conceding a goal where most teams might cave and go under, I thought we showed a great resilience and great strength to come back."
"We probably just ran out of a bit of gas in extra time, which is to be expected when you have to play that many minutes in a short period of time, but I am nothing but proud of their effort. They did themselves proud today. They did me proud. They did the school proud. They left everything on the pitch, and I couldn't ask for anything more."
The loss marked the end of a terrific university career for a number of Cascades players on Sunday.
"We have a real special class of graduating guys that have all contributed in different ways." Lowndes explained.
"Jackson [Cowx] has kept us in it and he might be the reason we played today with his performance on Friday night. He's gutted, he's upset, but you also have first and second years that are super upset in there as well. The whole group is disappointed, but to bounce back from last year and to be in a Canada West semi-final and be in extra time with the No. 2 ranked team in the country, is not a bad season at all."
