CALGARY - Jackson Farmer played hero for the UBC Thunderbirds scoring in the 101st minute of play to break the deadlock, lifting the visitors past the Mount Royal Cougars 1-0 in the last Canada West men's soccer Final Four matchup of the day.

With the win the T-Birds advanced to Sunday's Canada West final while also booking their ticket to U SPORTS Nationals being hosted by Carleton University at the end of the month.

Stadium field was packed full of fans who came out to watch these two teams battle it out on the grass as they went through regulation time scoreless and into extra time.

The lone goal of the game was a result of Farmer being able to make connection on a header in the late stages through a mass of Thunderbirds and Cougars players crowded in front of MRU's net, putting UBC up 1-0. 

Tristan Nkoghe took a free kick from the right side to find Farmer standing in front of the Cougars goal where he was able to redirect the ball into the top right corner.



"I just thought our boys put in a wonderful effort for 120 minutes," Mike Mosher, UBC head coach said. "But to be honest, being given the season we had and the adversity we faced through it all, I kind of anticipated that was probably going to be the case."

The match was neck-'n-neck the entire game, with both teams demonstrating their best efforts. Both MRU's Sterling Kerr and UBC's Bennett McKay put on an impressive performance on their respective goal lines. McKay saved seven shots on goal by MRU and Kerr stopped 10 from UBC. 



McKay was also awarded player of the game for the Thunderbirds after his shutout performance. 

"It felt nice to finally take a breath out there," McKay said. "It was tough going 90 minutes without a goal and then to finally see us put one away … a great feeling."

MRU's player of the game was awarded to Caden Rogozinski after an impressive performance on behalf of the Cougars. Rogozinski was able to utilize his speed to consistently get back and defend against an aggressive UBC offence. He was also seen consistently putting his body on the line to prevent the Thunderbirds from reaching Kerr. 

"We played really really well and played our hearts out for 120 minutes," Rogozinski said. "I feel like the result was very unlucky, the game could have gone either way and we just have to keep going forward and get prepared for tomorrow's game."

Rogozinski and the Cougars are ready to battle it out tomorrow and bring home a bronze medal to Mount Royal, keeping up the team's solid communication and connection on the field. 



MRU head coach Ryan Gyaki also said they are ready to rally in order to bring home a medal tomorrow morning. 

"It's very disappointing, but I'm proud of our boys and their 120 min effort. UBC is a strong competitor and we put up a good fight till the end," Gyaki said. 

Mount Royal will face-off against the University of Fraser Valley tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. as they battle for the Canada West bronze medal. The University of British Columbia will meet their west rivals, the University of Victoria Vikes, in the gold medal match at Stadium Field for a 2 p.m. kick off. 

The UVic Vikes finished atop the west division standings with 21 points, three ahead of the T-Birds in second spot. The teams met twice this past season and split their weekend series in late October, the Vikes winning the first meeting 2-0 while the 'Birds responded the next night for a 4-0 win. Sunday's Canada West Final matchup begins at 1:00 p.m. PT and all games can be seen on Canada West TV presented by Co-op.