FINAL 2010 CIS championship: York wins third national title with 1-0 win over UBC

By University of Toronto sports information
 
TORONTO – The York Lions were crowned national champions for the second time in three years as they defeated the UBC Thunderbirds 1-0 in the gold-medal match of the 2010 CIS men’s soccer championship at Varsity Centre, Sunday night.
 
With the win, the Lions improve their national championship all-time record to 11-4-2 and earn their third CIS title in program history (2008, 1977). York is now a perfect 3-0 in national final appearances.
 
"We did what we were expected to do as far as I'm concerned,” said York head coach Carmine Isacco. “We just made a commitment to each other, a commitment to defending and we tried to counter, it didn't work out as well as we wanted, but we did what we needed to win the game.”
 
UBC, who holds the CIS record with 11 national titles since 1974, settles for their fourth silver-medal finish in program history.
 
Third-year York striker Adrian Pena of Woodbridge, Ont., was named the tournament’s most valuable player.  The OUA West player of the year and CIS first team all-Canadian was the only Lion to score over the four-day championship and led all players with four goals en route to his second-career CIS banner.
 
Pena opened the scoring in the 17th minute thanks to a nice give-and-go play from fourth-year midfielder Dominic Antonini of Winnipeg and first-year forward Alon Badat on the left side of the field.  Antonini sent a perfectly-placed cross to Pena who slid the ball past UBC goalkeeper Zach Kalthoff of Calgary.
 
"It was an amazing build up on the left-wing for sure, but I know that Dominic broke through and I just had to get on the inside of my man, and luckily I did, so it was an easy finish,” said Pena on his game-winning goal “I feel amazing, we worked for this all season.”
 
The Lions carried their 1-0 lead into the second half, where they played a sound defensive game.  UBC had trouble penetrating the middle, which was clogged with a sea of York jerseys. 
 
UBC rallied towards the end of the game and had back-to-back corner opportunities in both the 73rd and 80th minutes, but Lions goalkeeper Sotiri Varlokostas of Toronto was there to deny anything that came his way. 
 
T-Birds defender Paul Clerc of Coquitlamn, B.C., got his head on a Brandon Bonifacio corner kick that sailed just over the net, and Ashley Ankiewicz had a great chance in injury time, but Varlokostas made an excellent diving save to preserve the victory. 
 
"It's a great group of players. I'm proud to be associated with them," said UBC head coach Mike Mosher. "They worked their butts off today, through this tournament and through this season. It's bitterly disappointing but we can say we went down doing everything we possible could have. On the day, we lost to a good team and we have to give our respect to York."
 
SCORING SUMMARY
 
YRK: 1-0:1
UBC: 0-0:0
 
First Half
1. YRK Adrian Pena (4) 17th 
 
Second Half
No scoring
 
Goalkeepers:
YRK: Sotiri Varloskostas (W, 0 GA, 3 saves, 90:00 mins)
UBC: Zach Kalthoff (L, 1 GA, 2 saves, 90:00 mins)
 
Shots: YRK 4, UBC 12
Shots on Net: YRK 2, UBC 6
Corners: YRK 1, UBC 7
Offsides: YRK 2, UBC 2
Fouls: YRK 6, UBC 5
Yellow Cards: UBC (Matthew Allard) YRK (Gerard Ladiyou, Ilya Orlov)
Red Cards: None
 
Players of the game:
YRK: Adrian Pena
UBC: Jason Gill
 
TOURNAMENT ALL-STARS
 
Tournament MVP:
Adrian Pena – York 
 
R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award:
UBC Thunderbirds

All-Star Team:
Goalkeeper: Luigi Caruso – York
Defence: Shawn Kodejs – Saint Mary’s
Defence: Dominic Bell – Western
Defence: Dominic Antonini – York
Defence: Gerard Ladiyou – York
Midfield: Dylan Bams – Toronto
Midfield: Alon Badat – York
Midfield: Alejandro Isern – UBC 
Midfield: Brendan Bonifacio – UBC
Forward: Adrian Pena – York
Forward: Gagandeep Dosanjh – UBC 
 
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
 
Thursday, Nov. 11
11:00 Quarterfinal 1: York 3, Laval 2 (4-2 PK)
13:30 Quarterfinal 2: Saint Mary’s 1, Alberta 0
16:00 Quarterfinal 3: UBC 3, Western 2 (4-2 PK)
18:30 Quarterfinal 4: Toronto 5, UQAM 0
Friday, Nov. 12
13:30 Consolation 1: Laval 4, Alberta 0
16:00 Consolation 2: Western 3, UQAM 2

Saturday, Nov. 13
11:00 Semifinal 1: York 1, Saint Mary’s 0
14:00 Semifinal 2: UBC 3, Toronto 0
16:30 Consolation final: Western 1, Laval 0

Sunday, Nov. 14
13:00 Saint Mary’s 2, Toronto 0
16:00 York 1, UBC 0 
 
-CIS-