Vancouver, BC – It was a tightly contested match, but regulation time penalty kicks proved to be the difference in Thursday's Canada West season opener as the UFV Cascades fell to the UBC Thunderbirds 2-0.
The Thunderbirds converted on their chance from the spot in the 20
th minute, while UFV was unable to have either of their spot kicks find the back of the net.
How it Happened:
The Thunderbirds struck the first blow when they were awarded a penalty in the 20
th minute, and Max Comsia stepped up to slot it past UFV goalkeeper
Matheus De Souza.
Just 90 seconds later, UFV's
Mateo Brazinha had a chance to equalize from the penalty spot, as
Marcus D'Andrea was taken down in the box. However, it was UBC keeper Roko Vukic that would come out on top, making the save while diving to his right.
The hosts doubled their lead in the 81
st minute as Sebastian Agerskov took a pass from Comsia and, after slipping into the box, he placed his shot into the bottom right corner.
UFV earned a second penalty in second half stoppage time when
Kevin Mailand was chopped down, but unfortunately for the Cascades their luck would remain the same as Brazinha's powerful shot would strike the crossbar and stay out.
Notable:
Thursday's game was a rematch of last season's Canada West semifinal that saw UBC come away with the win 1-0 after extra time.
Five UFV players made their first appearances for UFV in Canada West play in the match, with
Marcus D'Andrea and
Kyle Torresan starting, and
Ryan Torresan,
Spencer Mellett, and
Julian Pearce coming on as substitutes.
UFV outshot UBC 11-9 in the contest, but the Thunderbirds finished with six on target compared to the Cascades' five.
UBC committed 16 fouls compared to UFV's seven, while the Cascades came away with three yellow cards to the Thunderbirds' one.
Up Next:
The Cascades now head to Kamloops to finish off their opening weekend with a 2pm matchup on Saturday against the TRU WolfPack. Meanwhile, UBC will head to Langley to face the Trinity Western Spartans.
Keep up to date
Cascades regular season home games offer free admission for UFV students with their student card. You can keep up with all the action at gocascades.ca, or by following the UFV Cascades on social media at @ufvcascades. All Cascades regular season soccer, volleyball, and basketball games are also available to watch live and on demand at canadawest.tv.
About UFV
Located in the beautiful Fraser Valley just east of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
, the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) is a
fully accredited, public university that enrolls approximately 15,000 students per year. UFV has
campuses and locations in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission, and Hope, and a growing presence in Chandigarh, India.
