VANCOUVER - A late goal by the University of the Fraser Valley's Connor MacMillan gave his team a 1-0 upset victory at No. 1 UBC on Sunday, spoliing the Thunderbirds' home opener and handing them their first Canada West regular season and playoff loss since the conference championship game in 2011.
UBC had not lost a non-conference, regular season or playoff game since Nov. 6, 2011, a span of 27 matches.
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In a match that could have gone either way, UFV broke the deadlock late in the game as MacMillan slotted a shot from 10 yards out past rookie UBC goalkeeper
Ante Boskovic in the 87th minute, leaving the Thunderbirds stunned.
"We were not sharp today, we looked sluggish which was a surprise given we had a day off in between regular season games," said UBC head coach
Mike Mosher. "Credit to Fraser Valley, they played well, they worked hard and they appeared to want it a little bit more on the day. It was not a good performance from our group today."
Despite the loss, Boskovic impressed with his play; stopping a number of quality chances keeping the game scoreless until very late. Fraser Valley had the first quality scoring chance of the scoreless first half at the 20-minute mark when MacMillan shot just over the bar following an initial save by Boskovic. In his first game as a Thunderbird, Boskovic made eight saves in the loss while his counterpart, Mark Village, stopped five.
"Ante was perhaps was our best player," said Mosher. "Young guy, first CIS game. We're fortunate we have four good goalkeepers. Ante made several good saves on the day because Fraser Valley had some quality chances."
The 'Birds had a number of good chances including a strike from
Navid Mashinchi that hit the crossbar in the 35th minute and another by Mashinchi in the 59th that missed just high.
Following the UFV goal, UBC continued to apply pressure with Mashinchi getting stopped by Village on a point-blank shot in front of the net in the final minute. However, the clock ran out, ending the Thunderbirds' impressive winning streak that dated back to the 2011-2012 season.
With the loss, UBC falls to 1-1-0 on the season while UFV improves to 1-1-0 with the win.
On the injury front,
Will Hyde, the team's captain, missed today's game because he got hurt in Friday's game against Victoria, as did goalkeeper
Richard Meister, who is currently suffering from a minor quad strain. Despite the key absences, coach Mosher notes, "with injuries, comes the opportunity for others to play and step up."
Up next for the Thunderbirds is a home-and-away series against Trinity Western, with the first of two games at Thunderbird Stadium on Sept. 13 (7 p.m. kickoff) as part of the 2013 Homecoming Weekend festivites. The teams will then play again on Sept. 14 in Langley with a 7 p.m. start.
The Cascades look to continue their momentum when they travel to Manitoba to play the University of Winnipeg on Sept. 12.
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