SYDNEY, N.S. – The UBC Thunderbirds are back in the U SPORTS semifinals for a second straight year after defeating the No. 2 seed St. Francis Xavier X-Men, 2-1 in quarter-final action Friday afternoon in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
2023 U SPORTS Player of the Year,
Sebastian Dzikowski, scored late in the opening half while
Luke Norman added what proved to be the game winner in the 52
nd as the 'Birds fended off a late surge by the AUS champions and will now face the Université de Montréal Carabins Friday afternoon.
"Thankfully we got the goal right before half because I thought we were deserved of being up at halftime," said UBC head coach
Mike Mosher following the strong start to the tournament. "It was a strong performance. The boys were really up for it and I thought we were full value over the 45, over the 90. I thought it was a really quite a solid performance overall."
The T-Birds showcased their athleticism and relentless attack early, dominating possession in the opening minutes of the match and keeping play in the X-Men's half.
St. FX nearly found the opener in the 17
th minute when Charlie Waters played a neat ball through to Isaac VanWychen in the box. His shot grazed off
Bennett McKay's outstretched finger tips leading to a corner which also proved fruitless.
UBC continued to press and earned a third corner within the span of just a few minutes midway through the opening 45, but each time the X-Men were able to clear the area.
On yet another T-Birds corner in the 29
th,
Brennen Fuerst got his head on the ball in the box, sending it just wide of the far post.
Perhaps UBC's best chance in the opening 45 came in the 36
th minute when Norman chipped the ball over St. FX keeper Samuel Diltz, but Kyle Cordeiro cleared it away just a foot or two before the goal line.
Moments before the halftime whistle, the T-Birds were finally rewarded for their dominant play when Dzikowski finished with a low shot off his right foot, slipping the ball between Diltz and the post.
Tomas Pena set up the game opening goal with a beautiful assist, deftly playing the ball to the top of the six-yard box.
The X-Men carried play in the opening moments from the re-start but it was the T-Birds who converted on their first opportunity to double their lead. Dzikowski played the ball from near the sideline to
Logan Chung who in turn played it back to Norman. The rookie midfielder then used his left foot to place the ball past Diltz, inside the left post.
"That was a terrific goal, that's goal of the year material right there," said an impressed Mosher. "They pressured us, we went out one way around, out the other way and then combined right through them from our penalty area to their penalty area. The number of passes on that sequence…what a goal."
Dzikowski nearly scored his second of the game in the 73
rd when he drilled a close range shot which Diltz managed to get in front of while the rebound was sent just wide by
Brandon Momotani who played a highly effective 21 minutes off the bench.
"(Momotani) really did a great job coming in off the bench and applying pressure and then himself finding the ball, connecting passes, driving on the dribble to get into the other half too. That was a key player coming in for us."
Just moments later, the game took on a new tone as the X-Men got themselves on the board thanks to a perfectly redirected header by Lewis Dye off a Waters corner.
The goal certainly gave some life to the X-Men but the T-Birds fended off each ensuing attack with some skilled defensive play by the likes of
Chris Lee and
Eric Lajeunesse.
McKay made a pair of saves to secure the win for UBC who will now face a Carabins side which advanced past the Carleton Ravens on penalty kicks.
Friday's meeting with the Carabins is a rematch of last year's U SPORTS semifinal in which the T-Birds advanced to the gold medal game with a 2-0 win.
"They're here pretty much every year, we've been here on a very consistent basis and we've seen each other several times now. They're a good team, I think they're a very similar team to what we saw last year in Kamloops and we'll have to be up for it because they're good. They have some really good players, they're really well organized and they ask questions of you. We've got 24 hours here to get ourselves ready to go."
Kickoff Friday is set for 12:00 p.m. PT at Cape Breton University's Ness Timmons Field. The game will be available live on
CBC Gem or
CBC Sports' YouTube channel.
