TORONTO - UBC goalkeeper
Zach Kalthoff made amends in a big way on Thursday night, saving a pair of penalty kicks in the shootout to lead the UBC Thunderbirds to a 3-2 quarterfinal victory over the Western Ontario Mustangs at the CIS men's soccer championship in Toronto.
The T-Birds led 2-0 in the second half before the Mustangs tallied a pair of very similar looking goals to even the scoreline. Dominic Bell scored for the Mustangs in the 76th minute, flicking a header over Kalthoff off a Andrew Walton cross. Mike Sawchuck tied it 11 minutes later, heading a long ball in over a charging Kalthoff.
"By and large we were pretty good before going to sleep in the last 15 minutes. I think Zach might have done better on each of the crosses that came in and caused the two goals - it's a little bit unlike him. He stepped up in the PKs for us though and did the job," said UBC head coach
Mike Mosher.
With the win, UBC advances to the second semi-final on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. PT against the winner of tonight's last quarterfinal between UQAM and Toronto.
Despite the close finish, it was all UBC early.
The T-Birds finally took the lead in the 40th minute when a Western Ontario defender played a
Brandon Bonifacio corner kick into his own net as the ball bounced through the six-metre box towards the far post.
It was an odd first marker for the T-Birds, who to that point had controlled the majority of play.
Gagan Dosanjh had the first good chance in the eighth minute when a through ball bounced around the Western penalty area before the first-year striker managed a low shoot on net which was neatly saved by UWO's keeper.
Ryan Reynolds also had a prime chance inside their opponent's 18-yard box after controlling a long throw but his shot was deflected by a defender just high in the 20th minute.
Then it was a long ball over the top to
Greg Smith that looked to provide UBC with an opening to take the lead. His left-footed shot, which wasn't hit particularly well, bounced past Western goalie Andrew Murdoch, through a defender's legs but then off the post before being cleared away.
Western responded to the UBC tally with a trio of chances in the last five minutes of the half. Their best came off a free kick from half that narrowly missed the head of Niko Mavrikos, who appeared to have a favourable angle on net.
After the break, UBC seemed to regain their early momentum with Dosanjh tallying in the 56th minute. The crafty forward won a bouncing ball in the Western half before firing a low shot from 25 yards just inside the right post beyond the reach of an outstretched Murdoch.
Overtime was a tepid affair, however, Daniel Baxa nearly won it for Western in the 115th minute, as his strike from 15 yards out was neatly saved by Kalthoff who was at full stretch.
Alejandro Isern had UBC's best chance in overtime, glancing a shot off the crossbar with seven minutes left in the second 15-minute half.
In penalty kicks, Isern, Bonifacio,
Marco Visintin and
Joey Loreth all scored for the T-Birds. Kalthoff saved the first penalty kick off the foot of Western's Daniel Frankel and then stopped Baxa, their third shooter. Walton and Pat Mroczek scored in the second and fourth rounds for UWO.
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