OTTAWA – The UBC Thunderbirds have had their hopes for their first U SPORTS national championship in eight years dashed with a quarter-final heartbreaker of a loss on penalty kicks to the host Carleton Ravens Thursday night in Ottawa.
After staking out a 2-0 first half lead, the T-Birds conceded two Raven goals within eight minutes in the second half, forcing extra time and eventually penalties.
With the home side shooting first, each team scored on their first three attempts before Carleton goalkeeper Kyle Potter got himself in front of UBC's fourth attempt for the critical advantage. Ravens defender Tariq Hamad then stepped up and buried the clincher to send the hosts off to the semifinals while UBC will close out the tournament on the consolation side.
"This program is built around winning national championships, we've won 13," said UBC Head Coach Mike Mosher following the crushing loss. "Every year that's the goal, go and win a national championship so damn right, it hurts right now."
The first half began with play primarily in the middle third of the pitch but UBC soon gained some traction and took full advantage of an opportunity to take the lead off a quick transition.
Chris Lee took the ball near midfield and quickly passed it up to Nick Fussell who timed his run perfectly to take it just behind the last two Carleton defenders before chipping the ball over Potter with his right foot in the 14th minute.
Just nine minutes later,
Nicholas Momotani doubled UBC's advantage with a shot towards the net that deflected off a Ravens defender, sailed about 15 feet in the air and landed on a perfect arc past Potter inside the far post.
Down by a pair at halftime, the Ravens came out for the second 45 with purpose, dominating possession for long stretches of time while managing to tie the game by the 67th.
First it was Gabriel Bitar in the 60th who ran onto the ball just outside the box, cut to the middle and made a right footed strike to get the home crowd roaring.
Seven minutes later a well-executed set piece got the Ravens level. A corner taken by Scott Mazzota was headed in by Hamad.
The Thunderbirds got some fresh legs into the game late in the second half which helped to stem the tide and regain some possession balance but they weren't able to respond as the game was pushed to an extra 30 minutes.
Extra time was far more evenly played than the second half with chances at both ends, but both goalkeepers made timely stops, most notably UBC's Bennett McKay who was superb in his U SPORTS National Championship debut, named the T-Birds' player of the match.
"To get here and lose to a good team on penalties on their home field, I'm really proud with how my guys fought, not just today, but throughout the whole season," added Mosher. "We retained the ball much better in the first half than the second, it's as simple as that. We got back in the game albeit we were at a point where our ship was taking on some serious water, then we came back and gave as good as we got in extra time."
The loss means UBC has been forced to the relegation bracket where they'll face the Laval Rouge et Or in a consolation semifinal at 1:30 p.m. PT on Friday at Raven's Perch with the winner of that match going on to Saturday's consolation final.
