VANCOUVER – The No. 2 UBC Thunderbirds completed an unbeaten regular season on Saturday with 2-2 draw against the No. 7 Trinity Western Spartans on a rainy night at Thunderbird Stadium.
The tie sees the 'Birds finish first overall in the conference at 11-0-3, having set records for points and goals scored in a 14-game season. Despite that impressive finish, they will be on the road for the conference playoffs, which will be hosted by Alberta this year as the highest finishing Prairie Division school.
UBC does get a bye through the semifinals though as the top Pacific Division team. They will wait with Alberta for the winners of the conference quarterfinal match-ups.
“We've had a terrific season. To go through this league through 14 games not having lost is an accomplishment,” said UBC head coach
Mike Mosher. “It's nice we've given ourselves a leg up by winning and now its time to take the next step. What we've done to date is now in the past and there's more good teams waiting for us ahead.”
Paul Clerc (Coquitlam, BC) opened the scoring with his fifth of the year in the 15th minute. The third-year defender got a head to the ball off a UBC corner to give them the lead.
The 'Birds gave that lead away not long after though. Nathan Turner was the beneficiary of a defensive misplay from UBC that sent him in on goal alone, and he made no mistake, drawing the keeper out before burying the tying goal.
But UBC went ahead again before halftime, with
Sean Haley (Vancouver, BC) converting a breakaway chance. He was sent in by
Milad Mehrabi (Coquitlam, BC) and managed to get separation from the defence before slipping it past a charging Andrew Hicks.
But the Spartans equalized again in the second half on a great all-around play set up by Andrew Phillips. He carried the ball up the left wing and beat his man with a slick dribble move to gain just enough of a step to swing a low cross into the box.
That cross hit Andre Costa perfectly in stride as he charged in on goal and he buried it with his first touch to make it a 2-2 game.
Despite the standings being set in stone prior to the game, the rivalry between the sides was evident and both teams pushed hard for a go-ahead goal late.
The Spartans just missed their chance with about 11 minutes remaining, when Costa nearly had another one from a similar spot but put the ball just wide of the post.
UBC almost got a third goal in the dying seconds when a loose ball bounced around in the box dangerously with the Spartans keeper down, but nobody was able to get the finishing touch on it.
“Both teams were set in their place today and were playing lots of different players, but still there's a certain competitiveness between these teams you could see when they stepped on the field, and nobody wanted to lose that game,” said Mosher.
UBC's next action will be Friday, Nov. 2 in Edmonton for the Canada West semifinals.
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