VANCOUVER, B.C. – The UBC Thunderbirds made it another unbeaten weekend as they continued their strong start to the new Canada West men's soccer season, with a come-from-behind 4-1 victory over the University of Fraser Valley Cascades.
UBC got back to their winning ways, following Friday night's draw with Trinity Western, with a fantastic second-half performance at Thunderbird Stadium on Saturday evening in the top of the division clash, but they were made to work hard by the previously unbeaten Cascades, who took the lead through another Mateo Brazinha goal in the 33rd minute.
Luke Norman's equalizer in the final seconds of the first half cancelled that out and sent the teams into the break level. UBC came out for the restart fired up and took the lead from
Henri Godbout, with a deflected effort in the 49th minute. Godbout added a second on the hour mark, before senior
Jost Hausendorf got his first ever Canada West goal in the 90th minute to seal the win.
"I wasn't a happy man at half time and enough's enough," UBC head coach
Mike Mosher said after the match. "How many times are we going to concede one chance, one goal? Concede the first goal, not take our chances. It's enough and I said 'who is going to step forward and start seizing some of these opportunities, some of these positions that are available?'
"I was quite frustrated at half time. The game was there to be had in the first half. They looked a tired team…It looked like a different team in the second half, but I'm happy with the response."
It was a fairly even first half, with the home side just edging the possession, but clear cut chances were at a premium.
The best chance in the early going fell to UBC 14 minutes in when Godbout got his head onto a Norman cross, bringing a save from Jackson Cowx on the goal line.
Norman forced a leg save out of Cowx just before the half hour mark when he got onto a pass inside from Godbout, after a neat passing play from the Thunderbirds, but UBC couldn't capitalize on the confusion from the subsequent corner and the game remained scoreless.
That wasn't to last for long, however, and the visitors broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute.
The Cascades moved the ball quickly from a corner and Dante Colebourne burst through the Thunderbirds defence, sending a perfect ball in to a wide open Brazinha, who still had some work to do, but superbly finished past
Bennett McKay for his fourth goal of the season.
Norman came within inches of leveling for UBC in the 38th minute, but could only look on in agony as the ball trickled past the left post.
UBC came even closer in the dying seconds of the first half when
Max Comsia showed nice footwork in the box before crashing his shot off the left post. The Thunderbirds kept the pressure on and got their reward when
Tomas Pena's cross in from the right was flicked on to the back of the box. Godbout headed it down perfectly for Norman in front of goal and he caressed the ball in off the right post and UBC were all tied up going into the half.
The goal lit a fire under the Thunderbirds and seconds after the Cascades had a good opportunity to retake the lead, UBC went in front for the first time on the night in the 49th minute, when Godbout's shot from a tight angle was deflected past Cowx off one of his own defenders.
It was lead they weren't to give up and they added to it on the hour mark.
Brennan Fuerst fired in a low shot from just inside the box. Cowx saved, but as the ball spilled, hesitation from Adam Szymanski was punished by Godbout, who quickly nipped and fired home the rebound.
Comsia, Fuerst,
Oliver Herbert, and
Asvin Chauhan all had chances to add to the Thunderbirds tally, but Cowx was in excellent form between the posts for the Cascades to deny them.
With the game in the dying embers, the ball came to Hausendorf in front of the goal and the German fired home past Cowx to make it a 4-1 final.
UBC continue their six-match home stand to start the season when the visiting University of Lethbridge Pronghorns head to Thunderbird Stadium next Friday for the T-Birds' annual Thunderstruck doubleheader. Kick off for the men is set for 7:30 p.m., with the Thunderbirds women's team playing their first home match of the new season at 5:00 against the UBCO Heat.
Tickets for the double header are available now and the games will be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
