VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (2-0) fought back from a second-half deficit to edge the rival Trinity Western Spartans (0-2) 3-2 in their home opener under sunny skies Sunday afternoon at Thunderbird Stadium.
The T-Birds carried most of the early play in what was a rematch of the previous two Canada West finals and were rewarded in the 35th minute when
Sean Einarsson sent in a seeing eye right footed curling shot from the left side of the 18-yard box to open scoring. Einarsson had gathered a cut back pass from
Mihai Hodut on the left flank and guided the shot past a helpless Sebastian Colyn in the Spartans net.
Just two minutes later the Spartans responded in style with Caleb Jemmott sending in a high cross from the left flank that Tristan Torresan calmly took off his chest. With a surprising amount of time and space, Torresan blasted a left-footed rising strike from 16 yards out past an outstretched UBC 'keeper
Jason Roberts to even the score at 1-1 in minute 38.
Coming out of the break it was TWU that added to their lead on a 50th minute Torresan corner kick that Caleb Jemmott found through a maze of bodies to head home from four yards out giving the Spartans a 2-1 advantage.
The T-Birds would then press play the other way setting up some superb diving saves from Colyn. It started with a
Mackenzie Cole screamer from 19 yards out that forced Colyn airborn to his left. What followed was a rocket from 28 yards out courtesy of UBC's
Daniel Kaiser in the 78th minute heading towards the top left corner before Colyn pushed it away.
UBC would finally be rewarded just a couple minutes later as Cole connected in the box with a sliding tap in from close range, getting on the end of a turf burning cross from
Jordan Haynes from the left flank to even the score at 2-2 in minute 68.
Ten minutes later the T-Birds pressure would pay off yet again with the game winner courtesy of
Ryan Arthur rising above the crowd at the 16-yard line for a nifty flick on goal in minute 79. Arthur was able to get his head on the free kick from Haynes who floated the ball in from 37 yards out, a second straight assist for Haynes on the day.
"It was a good character battle back to get the result," said UBC head coach
Mike Mosher post game. "Disappointing we got into the situation we did down 2-1 but I'm happy with the effort coming back. I could sense we were really getting on top in the first half, we scored and then we conceded right away and it was a very preventable goal, just poor defending on our part, just not tracking back. It's always a battle with these guys, always a little bit interesting and credit to them, they've turned over a lot of players and they're still a very difficult team to beat."
The T-Birds improve to 2-0 and complete the opening weekend of Canada West play with a full six points thanks to a 2-0 win over the Fraser Valley Cascades on Friday night. Meanwhile the Spartans fall to 0-2 on the young season after a 3-0 setback on Friday night against the Victoria Vikes.
UBC next meets the Thompson Rivers WolfPack in Kamloops on Saturday, August 31 while the Spartans have a bye week before returning to action hosting TRU on Friday, September 6 in Langley.
