VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds (3-1-7) and Trinity Western University Spartans (3-3-7) played to a wild 3-3 draw on a rainy evening at Thunderbird Stadium as the two teams continue to jockey for playoff positioning down the stretch of the regular season. UBC held a 2-1 lead in the 90
th minute, but a whopping three goals were scored prior to the final whistle as the Spartans fought to the bitter end to earn a draw in their final regular season match.
"We should never have had a draw," said UBC head coach
Mike Mosher as his team played to their second straight tie. "We scored with seconds left and then again, we can't see it out. We run around like we've won the championship and we're not ready to set up and defend. They get an easy cross in and there's like three players open. It's totally ridiculous. But it's been a ridiculous season, it's a ridiculous game. If nothing else, we have to expect the unexpected every single game."
"The hearts in my throat still in my ripe age with everything else," said TWU head coach Mike Shearon referring to the roller coaster final minutes of play. "I couldn't be prouder of our group, I asked them to make tonight a culmination of everything we've tried to do this year. We're a young group with only three or four guys that have played significant Canada West minutes but they came through, I mean obviously I have to say there were times when UBC was by far the better team but at the same time we fought. We had a prayer before the game and we talked about struggling and emerging and I thought we did that tonight and I couldn't be happier for the way that it ended, now we obviously just wait and see what happens with playoffs and everything else and we need a lot of help."
UBC opened the scoring in the 24
th minute when
Logan Chung found
Thomas Gardner who cut through the defenders and fired it past Sebastian Colyn for the 1-0 lead. The Spartans came close to tying it up in the 35
th minute with a strike off the crossbar that ricocheted down but not quite over the goal line as the 'Birds held onto their one goal advantage. In what would become a familiar sight, Trinity Western evened it up at 1-1 in extra time as Christian Rossi crossed it into Marcus Tjernagel, who rifled it past
Bennett McKay to draw even moments before the halftime whistle.
The two teams traded chances to open the second half as the downpour of rain toned down to a lighter drizzle at Thunderbird stadium, but the action on the pitch ramped up. UBC reclaimed the lead in the 58
th minute as Chung's initial shot was stopped by Colyn, but
Bradley Richardson pounced on the rebound and scored to make it 2-1.
The back-and-forth battle continued until the 90
th minute when McKay punched out a Spartans corner directly to Thomas Powell who sent it on a half-volley off Nkoghe and past McKay for the equalizer at 2-2. As added time continued, Richardson carried it in from midfield and scored with an audacious chip from 35 yards out to go up 3-2. But the Spartans weren't done yet. Rossi looped in a cross from the right wing to Jackson Thompson who headed it off the bar and Tristan Torresan jumped on the loose ball for the tying goal as time expired.
With just one week remaining in the Canada West regular season, the T-Birds hold their playoff fate in their own hands in a two-game set on the road against the University of Victoria Vikes.
"Who knows what to expect next week based on everything we've seen this year so far," said Mosher. "At the end of the day, we still control our own destiny. I think I say that every single week and we find another way to drop points. I'm at a loss for words at the conclusion of that game…if nothing else it's exciting for the fans."
