SYDNEY, N.S. – Two goals within a span of less than two minutes sealed UBC's fate as the Thunderbirds fell 2-0 to the Université de Montréal Carabins in their U SPORTS semifinal Friday afternoon in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
Yohan Le bourhis slipped the ball past
Bennett McKay from short range after a header pass by Julien Bruce in the 82
nd minute, just moments after a collision near the sideline which did not lead to a foul call.
The 'Birds still had some time to work with in what was a half in which they had a number of chances. But just 76 seconds later, Montreal doubled their lead to take a stranglehold on the game when Sami McDuff finished off a perfect through ball by Quentin Paumier.
Holding off a frenetic UBC push until the final whistle, the Carabins exacted revenge for their 2-0 semifinal defeat to the T-Birds last November in Kamloops.
The loss for UBC – just their third all season – means their quest for a 14
th National Championship banner will have to wait another year. The 'Birds will now face the loser of Friday's other semifinal between the host Cape Breton Capers and the York Lions for U SPORTS bronze Sunday morning.
The semifinal saw a much more evenly played start compared to UBC's dominance early in Thursday's quarter-final victory over St. FX.
Montreal's first real chance came in the 13
th off a free kick into the area that found it's way deflected to
Bennett McKay who made his first of four saves in the match.
Withstanding several Montreal set pieces, the T-Birds had a tremendous opportunity of their own off a corner just moments before the break.
Luke Norman sent the ball into the box but it ping-ponged off a number of boots before being cleared out. A last stab strike attempt by
Brennen Fuerst sailed over the bar with the pressure relieved only by the half time whistle.
Less than five minutes into the second half,
Sebastian Dzikowski came inches away from getting on the board.
Chris Lee sent a free kick into the penalty box where the U SPORTS Player of the Year got his right foot under it for a chip shot that banked off the crossbar.
Still scoreless in the 68
th, a terrific UBC attacking effort saw the ball sail just wide of the far post off the boot of
Logan Chung after Norman sent a perfect pass across to Chung at the left side of the box.
In a match that saw relatively few scoring chances either way, it appeared as if extra time was likely until the Carabins managed the quick succession of goals to punch their ticket to Sunday's gold medal match – their first chance at the U SPORTS title since they won in 2021.
While certainly not the colour of medal the 'Birds' had their sights upon, UBC can still make it two medal finishes in the last two tournaments with a victory Sunday. Kickoff for the U SPORTS bronze medal match is set for 7:00 a.m. PT at Cape Breton University's Ness Timmons Field. The game will be available live on
CBC Gem and
CBC Sports' YouTube channel.
