Abbotsford, BC – The UFV Cascades got second half goals from
Ryan Torresan and
Michael Beecroft to level the score against the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday at Rotary Stadium, but a late winner from UBC's Luke Norman saw them take all three points on the night.
The nation's top ranked team stays perfect on the season with the win, while UFV drops to 1-3-1 so far in Canada West action.
How it Happened:
UBC struck in the 10
th minute, as a corner kick evaded UFV goalkeeper
Matheus De Souza. Markus Rukavina kept the ball in play, and cut it back to Eric Lajeunesse who slotted it home to make it 1-0.
Henri Gobout doubled the Thunderbirds lead in the 16
th minute, as he dribbled at his defender at the edge of the box before seeing his low shot nestle in the bottom left corner of the Cascades goal.
The Cascades found their footing to start the second half, as Spencer Mellet cut a ball back inside the penalty area to
Ryan Torresan 12 yards out. He deftly chested it down before his strong shot found the bottom left corner to pull the Cascades back within one.
UFV had a shout for a penalty in the 55
th minute, as Torresan looked to be taken down in the box after following up on a shot attempt, but the official waved away the complaints.
De Souza had his pocket picked by UBC's Gobout in the 57
th minute, but recovered well with the striker in alone to knock the ball off of him and force a goal kick.
The Cascades continued to press, with
Aidan Fitzgerald testing UBC keeper Roko Vukic after stealing the ball at midfield, but the keeper would be up to the task diving to his right.
Despite the pressure, it would be the Thunderbirds that would find a winner in the late stages. Luke Norman would find himself with the ball in the box, and after shifting it to his left foot would put it off the crossbar and in to seal the UBC win.
Notable:
Torresan's goal was the first goal conceded by the UBC Thunderbirds through five games so far this season.
UBC is currently ranked No. 1 in the U SPORTS national rankings.
UFV was without reigning Canada West player of the year
Mateo Brazinha, as well as
Ebi Igali, who both received red cards in the team's last match.
Quotable:
UFV head coach
Tom Lowndes
"I thought we battled really well in the second half. We've gone toe-to-toe with number one in the country. It would have been very easy for us to just think this game's gone at two nil, but I'm really proud of the effort."
"I'm really pleased for Ryan [Torresan], we moved him more central, and I though he had an immediate impact in the game. He's done a really good job and taken that goal. Michael [Beecroft] as well. It's disappointing it didn't result in a point tonight because after the second half we probably deserved one."
"For 40 minutes we really limited their opportunities, and left them without a shot on target, but good teams find a way to win and there's a reason why they are ranked so highly. Now we have to take the positives and get ready for TRU tomorrow."
Up Next:
UFV continues their home opening weekend by taking on the Thompson Rivers WolfPack on Saturday at 7:45pm.
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.
