VANCOUVER, B.C. - UBC Thunderbirds kept their unbeaten record but were made to work hard before carving out a 1-0 victory over the visiting Calgary Dinos in a rematch of last year's Canada West championship game.
Both teams cancelled each other out at Ken Woods Field in a goalless first half before
Tomas Pena scored a superb 70
th minute winner to give UBC another victory and keep them atop the Canada West standings.
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"They defended well but I thought for us it was a pretty solid performance," UBC head coach
Mike Mosher said after the match. "We controlled the ball. We created a few solid chances despite them defending quite well in the second half, the chances were starting to come. I'm quite happy with our overall performance on the day.
"We've got a lot of the ball, they got a lot of guys behind the ball, but we didn't give up much at all. They didn't have much ball at all and didn't have very much looks, so quite happy with our performance defensively too."
It was a fast-paced start by both teams, with the first real chance of the game coming in the 16
th minute when
Logan Chung flashed a shot from the edge of the box inches wide for UBC.
Calgary responded with a long range effort from Victor Gouttin, which was dealt with easily by
Bennett McKay in the UBC goal.
UBC enjoyed the better possession in the half but Calgary defensive shape and pressing game was keeping them comfortably at bay and the teams headed into the break scoreless.
Brennan Fuerst had two cracks at the cherry for UBC in the 49
th minute, seeing his first effort blocked and pulling the rebound wide.
The breakthrough finally came in the 70
th minute on a quick transitional play with Pena burying a pinpoint
Chris Lee cross mere seconds after coming onto the pitch.
UBC could have added a second in the 77
th minute when
Luke Norman was played in but Liam Hunter came up with a big save at his near post. The rebound came to
Connor Mrazek who sent it to
Sebastian Dzikowski at the back post but his header didn't have much power and bounced back into the arms of Hunter.
Calgary pushed hard to try and find a late leveller and had a couple of looks on goal but couldn't find a way past McKay and Dzikowski had a chance to add a second deep in stoppage time but pulled his shot wide.
A very good win for UBC, keeping their unbeaten season record intact and giving them their sixth clean sheet in nine games played.
"They've bought in and they take real pride in trying to keep clean sheets and trying to keep the number of goals and the number of chances to a minimum," Mosher said of his side's strong defensive efforts. "But I've said it before, it's not just the keeper, it's not just the back four, it's everybody in terms of how we press, how we counterpress when we lose it. Everybody's bought in and on board with it."
UBC are back in action on Saturday night when they host Mount Royal Cougars at Thunderbird Stadium (kick off 7.00pm PDT). Calgary continue their travels in BC when they make the long trip to Vancouver Island on Saturday to take on the UVic Vikes in Victoria (kick off 7.00pm PDT).
