VANCOUVER, B.C. - UBC Thunderbirds kept their unbeaten start to the season going with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over the visiting UVic Vikes at Thunderbird Stadium on Thursday evening.
The battle between 1
st and 2
nd in the Canada West Pacific Division was expected to be a closely contested affair and that proved to be the case, with neither side giving an inch with potentially huge postseason seeding implications on the line.Â
In the end it took a 90
th minute winner from
Connor Mrazek to break the deadlock and break the visitor's resolve.
"They defended very well and we weren't able to create as many chances as we have in games thus far," UBC head coach
Mike Mosher said after the match. "That's a first place versus second place team. They've done well this far in the season. I've said it before, give them credit, and it showed again today.
"They did better at getting a little bit more on the ball and playing better in the second half. There were a lot of times when we were regaining possession very quickly and thus they still had a lot of players behind the ball, so there was a lot of bodies to have to navigate, but that's football sometimes."
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The first half was a cagey affair, with both defences on top and very little goalmouth action.
It took until the 23
rd minute for either side to bring a save out of the opposing goalkeeper, with UVic's Yassin Guitouni's low long ranger easily handled by UBC's
Bennett McKay.
The Thunderbirds best chance of the first half came in the dying embers with Thomas Pena's flashing effort that flew past the left post.
UBC came out with more purpose and fire in the second half and
Logan Chung had a chance to put the home side ahead after the Thunderbirds pounced on a poor clearance from Vikes keeper Callum Weir, only to see his shot cleared off the goalline by Tugwell.
Despite their possession, UBC couldn't find a way past a resolute Victoria backline, with the Vikes happy to soak up the pressure and try and mount something on the counter.
Aiden Grew brought a near post save out of McKay in the 71
st minute in UVic's first look on goal in the second half.
As the game looked set to be heading to a stalemate it took a bit of good fortune in t he final minute to break the deadlock.
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Bradley Richardson sent a dangerous cross in from the right which came to
Chris Lee in the box. Lee's shot came off the chest of Mrazek and the deflection came crashing off the left post and straight back to Mrazek, who made no mistake from close range to fire home the dramatic late winner and extend the Thunderbird's lead over the Vikes at the top of the division.
"Huge result," Mosher said. "It puts us six points clear of them at this stage of the game, so from the goal of coming first and all the benefits that come with that, it's a massive result."
UBC now move to a record of 9 wins and 2 draws on the season, while UVic fall to 7-2-2. The two teams go at it again on Vancouver Island on Saturday afternoon, with UVic playing host to UBC at Centennial Stadium, with a 1.30pm kick off.
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