OTTAWA – The UBC Thunderbirds have had their 2021 U SPORTS National Championship come to an end following a 4-2 loss to the Laval Rouge et Or in a consolation semifinal Friday night in Ottawa.
Trailing 1-0 through 45 minutes, a wild start to the second half saw the two sides score twice each within 21 minutes before the Quebec City side tacked on an insurance marker in the 80th to secure their berth in Saturday's consolation final against the Victoria Vikes.
"It's always a tough game to play in and it's a tight turnaround, I'm happy for the boys to come out and put in the work they did," said UBC Head Coach Mike Mosher following the disappointing end to the T-Birds' season. "We took an opportunity to put some fresh legs in and legs that may not have played at all or in limited minutes yesterday. But if you go to this side, which you don't want to be in, that's an opportunity for guys to get some experience and get them on the field."
A determined T-Birds group got level just four minutes into the second half when Tristan Nkoghe headed in UBC's first goal of the game off a Sam Fletcher free kick.
Laval retook the lead just two minutes later, however, when Wassim Chaouki made a right footed strike past UBC goalkeeper Axel Thulin Lennselius who made his first start as a Thunderbird.
But UBC proved themselves a resilient side as Markus Kaiser beautifully finished from eight yards out on a pass from Sebastian Dzikowski, tying the match 2-2 in the 55th.
Things settled down momentarily, but Laval retook the lead for good 11 minutes later with Chaouki's second of the match.
"Things didn't go at we might have hoped, but hopefully those are experiences, memories, friendships that will last through a lifetime," said Mosher, specifically referencing the final match in the blue and gold for graduating seniors Riley Pang, Sam Fletcher, Mackenzie Cole, and Jora Saran.
While Friday's result marks the end of an era for those long-serving Thunderbirds, this weekend also proved to the rest of the country there is a strong crop of young players on this UBC squad who fully intend to make their mark in the years to come.
