VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (8-0-2) were made to work hard by a spirited MacEwan Griffins team at Thunderbird Stadium on Friday evening before coming away with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory to stay unbeaten on the season.
The winless Griffins belied their position at the bottom of the Canada West Prairie Division to give the Thunderbirds a real battle, opening the scoring in the 34th minute from a well-taken Macky Mahfouz strike.
Luke Norman levelled things up for UBC with basically the last kick of the first half.
Markus Rukavina fired UBC ahead two minutes after the restart in a wild beginning to the second half. Ali Yildiz levelled things up for MacEwan from the spot in the 54th minute, but the parity lasted just four minutes before Norman blasted the Thunderbirds ahead again.
This time it was a lead that UBC weren't to give up and they held on for a big three points in the battle for the number one seeding for the playoffs.
"No surprises for me," UBC head coach
Mike Mosher said after the match. "They have some very nice players, some really good attacking players. We knew they would be a threat in transition, and they were. Despite their record, they've scored some goals and they've as many pieces to get at you at transition as many teams we've seen."
Despite the problems faced, UBC found a way to get the victory, but Mosher knows they need to be much better come the postseason.
"When you get to the biggest games of the playoffs, you can't concede two goals," Mosher mused. "You can't. We're going to play top teams, whoever it is, in the playoffs and you can't go in and expect to score three goals every game. That's just not the way playoff games get played, whether it's Canada West or Nationals. We have to be so much tighter, but it's our own doing and we harp on about it over and over again at practice."
UBC dominated the first half possession, but MacEwan were looking dangerous on the counter.
Norman came close to opening the scoring for UBC in the 8th minute but MacEwan goalkeeper David Sithole turned his shot onto the far post and the danger was cleared.
The Griffins' Benjamin Thiel came up with a perfectly timed last-ditch challenge in the box in the 25th minute to prevent
Nicolas Nadeau from firing home, before
Henri Godbout came close for the home side with a shot six minutes later.
MacEwan shocked the home crowd when they opened the scoring in the 34th minute on a quick transition play, with Mahfouz tucking the ball away into the far corner from a tight angle with aplomb.
The Thunderbirds fought back and tied things up in the last seconds of first half stoppage time when the ball broke to Norman in the six-yard box and he fired home from close range to send the teams in level.
UBC started the second half where they left off in the first and soon took the lead for the first time on the night two minutes after the restart with a well-worked goal that saw Norman play in Rukavina and the third-year forward finished superbly.
Norman almost made it three for UBC moments later, whizzing a low shot just the wrong side of the right post, but MacEwan fought back and tied things up when Yildiz scored from a 54th minute penalty after Sacre Musa had been brought down in the box.
Norman wasn't to be denied and this time Rukavina turned the provider, playing the ball inside for him to blast home his second of the game in the 58th minute to restore UBC's lead.
Substitute
Sebastian Agerskov almost added a fourth for UBC in the 90th minute, but was denied by one of many big saves from Sithole.
MacEwan finished the match with 10 men after Liam Van Laar was sent off for a second yellow card in stoppage time and UBC comfortably saw out the rest of the match.
UBC have another cross-division clash on Saturday when the Prairie leading Calgary Dinos come to town. Kick off at Thunderbird Stadium is 6:00 p.m. MacEwan head to Vancouver Island for a game with the University of Victoria Vikes tomorrow.
"Once again, they're another good team and it should be a good game," Mosher said of the Dinos match. "Like the UBCO game a couple of weeks ago, we didn't put this game to bed early enough so it's taken more energy out of us than we would have liked, but they'll be ready for it."
Tickets for Saturday's clash with Calgary are available online or at the door and the match will be streamed
live on Canada West TV.
