VANCOUVER – In front of a crowd of 912, the UBC Thunderbirds men's soccer team ended its preseason with a 1-0 shutout victory over its crosstown rivals the Simon Fraser University Clan at David Sidoo Field on Friday night. After a scoreless opening half, fifth-year player Justin Wallace (Kamloops, B.C.) buried the game's only goal in the 61st minute to give UBC all the offence it needed to claim a fifth straight triumph over the SFU.

Wallace, a product of Thompson Rivers University, and Simon Fraser before that, found twine in the 61st minute after finding open space at the top of the 18-yard box and firing home a low shot that beat an outstretched Brandon Watson. UBC goalkeeper Chad Bush (Ottawa) collected the shutout turning aside four SFU shots as the team now prepares for its season opener at home against the University of Victoria next Friday at 5 p.m. PT at David Sidoo Field at Thunderbird Stadium.
 
"Simon Fraser is a quality opponent and it's a great tune-up heading into our regular season opener next weekend against Victoria," added UBC head coach Mike Mosher after the game. "Preseason is about playing tough opponents to keep us sharp heading into the season and although SFU may have had the advantage in the opening half tonight, we came on strong in the second."
 
The game saw a scoreless first half but it wasn't for a lack of chances as both sides had a handful of opportunities to take a lead in front of an electric crowd filled international students from Jump Start, a first-year orientation and transition program for newcomers. UBC had a trio of chances in the opening 10 minutes while Simon Fraser striker Michael North dominated, accounting for every chance the Clan had.
 
Starting Simon Fraser goalkeeper Watson was forced to make a pair of quality saves in the first ten minutes as Gagan Dosanjh (Abbotsford, B.C.) and Han Sol Kim (Seoul, South Korea) had great chances from distances of 18 and 13 yards, respectively. The 2012 CIS Championship MVP, Dosanjh, returns to the team for the 2015 season for his final year of eligibility after pursuing a professional career with FC Edmonton. Despite going head-to-head with 6-foot-3 SFU defender Magnus Kristensen, the diminutive 5-6 figure of Dosanjh seemed to provide a spark every time he gained possession on Friday.
 
At the opposite end of the pitch, T-Birds' keeper Bush had to be equally sharp to keep North and his SFU teammates off the board. The SFU striker nearly found the back of the net with a header in the 13th minute, which trickled wide, while Bush robbed his attempt later in the half which was surely headed for the top corner.
 

2015.08.29 UBC Men's Soccer vs. SFU Clan - Images by UBC Thunderbirds Photos

In the early stages of the second half, the rivalry became increasingly evident as the referee was forced to assess a pair of yellow cards early on. After a pair of aggressive tackles, one by each team, that were deemed clean by the referee, Mamadi Camara was booked with the first of three yellows to be given out on Friday. Wallace received a yellow himself in the 58th minute before burying the deciding goal minutes later off a Sean Einarsson (Surrey, B.C.) feed.
 
After Wallace gave the T-Birds the one-goal advantage, Simon Fraser was quite limited with its attack for the remainder of the game, save for a few opportunities cleared safely by the UBC defenders on each occasion.
 
Arguably the best chance the Clan had in the latter stages of the game was a chip in the 81st minute from Ryan Dhillon in search of teammate James Fraser inside 15 yards but Bush shut the door, intercepting the pass. Camara also found himself behind the UBC backline but was called offside by the far linesman negating the SFU goal.
 
Wallace had a number of opportunities to bury his second of the game for UBC, including a chance in tight that forced Dzenan Bezdrob to make a goal-line clearance to keep the damage at bay.
 
UBC finished the game with seven shots on target while Simon Fraser mustered five quality shots of their own, all of which Bush turned aside. The victory extends the Thunderbird winning streak over the Clan to five games, with UBC outscoring its rival 10-0.