OSHAWA, Ont. – The UBC Thunderbirds will play for the U SPORTS crown after a decisive 3-0 semifinal victory over the McGill RedBirds Friday evening at Oshawa's Vasos Field.
Luke Norman scored twice while
Bennett McKay made three saves for the clean sheet as the blue and gold will play in the national final for the second time in the last three years, set to face the Montreal Carabins Sunday morning.
"I think we were really well prepared going in," said UBC head coach
Mike Mosher following the convincing semifinal effort. "There's always games within the game, and getting that early goal was huge. Getting the early goal really allowed us to settle and a goal playing into the wind was a big help, then we followed with another goal early in the second half. You talk about timely goals and those are huge and those are really big momentum swingers. We talked early in the season about how many times we were conceding the first goal and then having to carve our way back into games. Today was a case of getting the right goals at the right times, and that really helped put the wind behind our sails."
Norman's first of the match came just three minutes in. A miscue by the RedBirds allowed
Joven Mann to collect the ball, thread it through a pair of McGill defenders across to Norman who hooked the ball past a challenge from keeper Ludocyk Ciociola.
Playing on their front feet for much of the remainder of the half, the T-Birds held the slim lead at the break, only to once again score quickly after the re-start.
Oliver Herbert snuck a low shot past Ciociola in the 47
th minute, once again taking some early wind out of McGill's sails. Mann sent another pass across, this time to Herbert whose attempt from 15 yards out found the RedBirds' keeper but still managed to slip between his legs and slowly roll across the goal line.
Less than four minutes later, Norman completed the brace with his fourth goal in just five U SPORTS championship games, a right footed strike off the right post and in to give the T-Birds a commanding 3-0 lead. The play began with yet another RedBirds turnover,
Henri Godbout pouncing on the ball near midfield. The Canada West Rookie of the Year passed up to Norman near the top of the box. His initial shot was blocked, but the second-year midfielder stayed with it and in doing so, made an already steep climb for McGill an insurmountable peak.
While McKay wasn't over challenged in the victory, the veteran keeper came up with a spectacular save in the 72
nd, getting a paw on a Mujtaba Mirhasan header from close range, keeping the clean sheet intact.
Joven Mann nearly scored his third of the tournament in the 76
th minute as the rookie attempted to chip the ball past a charging Ciociola who was able to deflect the shot out of harm's way.
Now guaranteed a U SPORTS medal finish for the third consecutive year, the T-Birds have a crack at their first gold since 2013. That chance comes against what has become a familiar championship tournament opponent for the T-Birds who have come across the Carabins now for the third straight year and third time in the last six. UBC advanced to the 2022 final with a 2-0 win over Montreal while the Carabins forced the 'Birds into last year's bronze medal match, avenging their previous year's defeat with a 2-0 semifinal win.
Montreal advanced to their second straight U SPORTS title match with a 2-1 win over the York Lions in Friday's earlier semifinal.
"It doesn't always happen with the one ranked team and the two ranked team playing each other in the final," added Mosher. "What I've seen in their games thus far, they're very deserving of being in the final, a very good team. We've seen them the last couple years and they've been very, very solid. We've split those games thus far and very fitting we see them in the final on Sunday."
Kickoff for the 2024 U SPORTS Men's Soccer Championship Final is 11:00 a.m. PT Sunday, November 10 from Oshawa. The game will be streamed live on CBCSports.ca and
CBC Sports' YouTube channel.
