Vancouver, BC – The UFV Cascades men's soccer team battled hard, but a late push from the UBC Thunderbirds saw the defending national champions come back to win 2-1 in the season opener. 

It was a heavily contested rematch of last season's thrilling Canada West semifinal with the game featuring three goals and six cards including a pair of first half ejections.

How it happened:
It was an entertaining start, with the action flowing quickly end-to-end as both teams looked for the opener.
UFV came closest to breaking the deadlock 10 minutes in when Jack Garner turned a Mateo Brazinha shot around the post. 20 minutes later after the Cascades pounced on a turnover and Dante Colebourne fed Michael Beecroft, who tucked it away perfectly into the bottom right corner for the teams first goal of the season. 
 
With both teams battling hard, emotions boiled over in the 38th minute as UFV's Colebourne got tangled up with UBC's Joven Mann. Both players saw straight reds in the feisty altercation that followed after Mann aimed a kick at the Cascades player and tempers flared.
 
UBC struggled to break through a resolute UFV backline in the second half, but they found a breakthrough to get back on level terms in the 70th minute when Markus Rukavina played the ball to Max Comsia, who fired home the equalizer low into the bottom left corner.
 
With the Thunderbirds pushing, and multiple Cascades having left the field due to injury, UBC found the late winner with eight minutes remaining as Markus Kaiser played in Eric Lajeunesse, who coolly knocked the ball past Matheus de Souza for a lead UBC weren't to give up.

Quotable:
UFV head coach Tom Lowndes

"Obviously we came to the defending national champions, and I think we probably deserved something from the game. I'm proud of the effort, commitment, and desire, and we kept our heads when things went against us."

"They struggled to break us down, and then obviously we had to change our shape when the red cards happened, and that probably changed the game and hurt us. It's frustrating, but I'm proud of the boys and how they battled."

Next Up:
The Cascades continue their opening weekend on Saturday, as they head to the island to take on the UVic Vikes in Victoria on Saturday afternoon at 5:30 p.m. The game can be seen live on Canada West TV.

To keep up with all the action follow the Cascades on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter at @ufvcascades

- With files from Michael McColl / UBC Thunderbirds