Despite scoring first, the UBC Thunderbirds were still a shot better than the UNBC Timberwolves.
The T-Birds gutted out a pesky 2-1 victory over the T-Wolves Friday night at Masich Place Stadium in Canada West men’s soccer.
Stu Rowlands opened the game up with some early fireworks taking advantage of a defensive breakdown by UBC courtesy of a feed from Joel Watson and blew a shot past goalkeeper Jason Roberts.
“We didn’t expect how fast they would come out. We were caught a little flatfooted at first, and they came out firing. It has been a problem for our team, conceding goals early,” said Daniel Kaiser, UBC defender postgame to MyPGNow.
POSTGAME: Hear from @ubctbirds defender Daniel Kaiser, following his team’s gritty 2-1 victory over the @UNBCMSoccer. The two sides clash again Sunday! pic.twitter.com/2KHdHtcs61
— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) September 28, 2019
The game would stay that way until the 62nd minute when Victory Shumbusho barely put the ball across the line on a contested corner kick past UNBC goaltender Daniel Zadravec tying up the game at 1-1.
Adversity struck for the Timberwolves a couple minutes later when Anthony Preston was issued his second yellow card of the game, forcing UNBC to play with ten-men.
On top of that, what looked to be a clean tackle from first-year defender Demian Dron in the box was called leaving Kerman Pannu with a penalty kick, which he scored on in the 73rd minute.
UNBC had a golden opportunity off the boot of Rowlands who pushed it wide of the net.
Even though the Timberwolves drop to 4-5-1 with the defeat, defender Jonah Smith was proud of the team’s effort.
“There are many positives. One, we can play with ten men against the very best and still attack and press.”
“Two, we can create chances even when we are defending low, and number three, our backline can deal with stress and defend in tough situations.”
UBC outshot the Timberwolves 14-1 with Zadravec making nine saves in defeat.
The road will be a little bit tougher for Sunday’s match (Noon from Masich Place) as both Preston and defender Luke Brbot will each serve a one-game suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards throughout the season.
Even with the lineup changing a bit, Watson is confident they can rebound against the Thunderbirds.
“It shows we can play with any team in the league.”
“Battling with UBC, going down to ten men and still fighting, not giving up too much in the back, really shows our grit and determination.”
Starting goaltender Rob Goodey also didn’t dress for the Timberwolves due to injury.
UBC improves to 6-1-1 on the season who were ranked fifth in Canada in the U-Sports Top 10 this week.
Postgame: @UNBCMSoccer‘s Joel Watson talks about the disappointment of a tough 2-1 loss to @ubctbirds, including some tough calls, but is ready to regroup for Sunday! Big rematch goes at 12 PM! pic.twitter.com/OnuSig6o6o
— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) September 28, 2019