REGINA, Sask. – Aldo Galvan's 10-yard field goal on the last play of the game gave the University of Regina Rams (2-1) a 19-17 win over the UBC Thunderbirds (1-2) Friday night at Mosaic Stadium.
Galvan's chip shot was a chance at redemption after he had pulled his previous attempt at a game winner from 40 yards out wide left, but two 15-yard UBC unnecessary roughness penalties gave the first-year kicker another attempt at a game-winning field goal. Galvan made no mistake, splitting the uprights to give the Rams their second consecutive win.
The Rams fumbled the ball six times in the win, five of those fumbles were recovered by UBC's defence, including two inside the Thunderbirds' five-yard line as the Rams were threatening to score.
Ben Hladik alone recovered three of those fumbles for UBC, but the T-Birds were only able to get seven points out of those turnovers.
Noah Picton briefly left the game in the first quarter after absorbing one of UBC's six sacks, but finished 21-for-27 and had 313 passing yards.
Rookie slotback Bennett Stusek led the Rams in receiving, catching six passes for 117 yards including a 40-yard bomb up the middle on the first offensive play of the game.
Stusek also caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Seb Britton, who took over at quarterback for the rest of the series after the hit on Picton. Kyle Moortgat had six catches for 85 yards, while Ryan Schienbein caught five passes for 86 yards.
Michael O'Connor was 30-for-45 for UBC and finished with 332 yards and a touchdown. That touchdown pass put UBC into the lead late in the game, connecting with
Trivel Pinto from 25 yards out to give the visitors a 17-16 advantage with just over two minutes to go. Pinto led all players in receiving with 10 catches for 131 yards.
O'Connor's touchdown pass, his 72
nd as a Thunderbird, also put him into sole possession of number one on the all-time Thunderbird list of passing scores.
Besides Hladik's three fumble recoveries, the second-year defensive lineman was also credited with five solo tackles, a forced fumble, and a sack.
Dante Vigini and
Sheriden Lawley both had two sacks, while
Tom Schnitzler had the other. Vigini,
James Ens,
Henrique Custodio,
Ryley Butler, and
Jean Ventose all joined Hladik with forced fumbles.
T-Bird kicker
Greg Hutchins scored 11 of UBC's 17 points including three field goals (44, 46, and 44 yards).
After back-to-back trips across the Rocky Mountains, UBC will be back at Thunderbird Stadium next Saturday to host the 3-0 Calgary Dinos for the 'Birds' annual homecoming game and a big shot at redemption.
