VANCOUVER – A strong second half got the UBC Thunderbirds the result they were looking for as they earned a 2-0 win over the visiting UBC Okanagan Heat on a rainy Saturday night at Thunderbird Stadium.
Mackenzie Cole converted on a penalty kick in the 69th minute and Tristan Nkoghe expertly played a tricky ball for some critical insurance in the 85th while Bennett McKay earned the clean sheet in goal.
"First and foremost, I respect the boys' resilience," said UBC Head Coach Mike Mosher after securing a much-needed win for the first time in three games. "We said even at halftime both games this weekend, keep working and hard work is going to pay off, we've got to work our way through this, and fortunately finally something fell our way."
A scoreless opening 45 minutes saw few chances by either side, but things picked up in many ways in the second half.
The Heat (1-3-4) were forced to play with ten men from the 53rd minute as Sam McDonald was sent off with a red card.
In the 69th minute, the Thunderbirds (3-1-4) finally broke through when Cole made good on a penalty, awarded after Bradley Richardson was hauled down in the box. Cole stepped up, kept the ball low and placed it into the bottom right hand corner for his second goal of the season.
The 'Birds then got that critical insurance 16 minutes later when
Tristan Nkoghe was sprung clear on a nice pass from
Connor Mrazek. The veteran Nkoghe ran down the left side and as UBCO goalkeeper Nicholas Reitsma came out to challenge, he neatly chipped the ball over the keeper and into the net, securing his second of the campaign.
"It was a really nice finish, he took that goal quite well, that wasn't an easy finish and it gave us the necessary breathing room," added Mosher.
The way the Thunderbirds closed out the match could certainly be used as a turning point for the squad which has struggled to hang onto second half leads.
"The hard work is paying dividends. It would have been tough if we had come away with another tie, but that was the tone this week, positivity and energy in training and we had to believe and trust that was going to carry through for results on the weekend. It was disappointing yesterday, but we were back at it today and it worked out."
The Thunderbirds will look to gain some further traction as they remain home next weekend to host the Trinity Western Spartans for the final home games of the regular season. Kickoff Friday, October 15th is set for 7:30 p.m. PT at Thunderbird Stadium.
