Photo credit Yan Doublet
QUEBEC CITY (CIS) – The UBC Thunderbirds showed why they won the Canada West banner by easily defeating the UNB Varsity Reds 4-0 in the third quarter-final game at the CIS men’s soccer championship on Thursday afternoon at TELUS-UL Stadium in Quebec City.
The T-Birds will now play in the second semifinal matchup Friday at 6:30 pm EST, while the AUS finalist Reds move to the consolation round Friday at 1:30 pm EST. UBC continues its journey towards yet another national title. The Birds hold the record of 11 CIS championships, and now show a lifetime record of 36-5-1 (.857) at the national tournament.
UBC head coach Mike Mosher couldn’t hope for a better scenario for his team. “We showed what were capable of doing, which is always nice on the first game of the tournament when nervousness comes in and you’re facing a team you’re not familiar with. It’s also nice to get some players out of the game and rest, because it’s always a tough tournament over four days. Lots of positive,” said Mosher.
CIS coach of the year Miles Pinsent had no other choice but to congratulate the T-Birds on the victory. “It took my boys a bit too long to adjust to UBC’s pace. They scored some goals early. Against a team like UBC, if you make a mistake they pounce on you, and they certainly did that today,” conceded Pinsent.
The Thunderbirds were quick to show their superiority. In the seventh minute, Steve Johnson of Delta, B.C., skilfully redirected from the head Reynold Stewart’s corner kick, and already it was 1-0.
Stewart was also at the origin of UBC’s second goal, from Gagandeep Dosanjh of Abbotsford, B.C. The Canada West player of the year took the pass from Stewart and sent a powerful shot straight into the net at the 14-minute mark.
The V-Reds allowed a third goal before the end of the half. In the 32nd minute, Marco Visintin of Vancouver took a corner kick from the left side, and with the help of a strong wind, the ball found its way past goalkeeper Aaron McMurray, pushing the score up to 3-0.
The Reds were not out of the woods yet. After only a few seconds of play in the second half, Dosanjh netted his second of the game, again with a powerful strike that gave no chance to McMurray. Stewart tallied his third assist of the game on the play.
At 4-0, UBC decided to rest its star players, Dosanjh and Stewart making their way off the field to give way for substitutes. UNB tried to avoid the shutout with a couple of scoring chances at the end of the contest, each time stopped by the Thunderbirds.
SCORING
SUMMARY
UBC: 3-1: 4
UNB: 0-0: 1
First half
UBC Steve Johnson (1) (Reynold Stewart), 7th
UBC Gagandeep Dosanjh (1) (Reynold Stewart), 14th
UBC Marco Visintin (1), 33th
Second half
UBC Gagandeep Dosanjh (2) (Reynold Stewart), 46th
Goalkeepers:
UBC: Luke O’Shea (W, 0 GA, 4 saves, 90:00, 1-0)
UNB: Aaron McMurray (L, 4 GA, 7 saves, 80:02, 0-1)
UNB: Brandon Eagle (0 GA, 1 save, 9:40)
Team stats
Shots: UBC 23, UNB 9
Shots on net: UBC 10, UNB 4
Corners: UBC 6, UNB 5
Offsides: UBC 2, UNB 2
Fouls: UBC 7, UNB 2
Yellow cards: UBC (none), UNB (none)
Red cards: UBC (none), UNB (none)
Players of the game:
UBC: Gagandeep Dosanjh
UNB: Yousuf Mohammad
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Official championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/msoc/index
Thursday, Nov. 8
11:00 Quarter-final 1: Cape Breton 1 Carleton 0 (4-3
kicks)
13:30 Quarter-final 2: UQTR 2 Alberta 1
16:00 Quarter-final 3: UBC 4 UNB 0
18:30 Quarter-final 4: McMaster vs. Laval (CIS-SIC.tv
webcast)
Friday, Nov. 9
11:00 Consolation 1: Carleton vs. Alberta (CIS-SIC.tv
webcast)
13:30 Consolation 2: UNB vs. Loser QF 4 (CIS-SIC.tv
webcast)
16:00 Semifinal 1: Cape Breton vs. UQTR (CIS-SIC.tv
webcast)
18:30 Semifinal 2: UBC vs. Winner QF 4 (CIS-SIC.tv
webcast)
Saturday, Nov. 10
11:00 Fifth-place game (CIS-SIC.tv
webcast)
Sunday, Nov. 11
11:30 Bronze medal (CIS-SIC.tv webcast)
14:00 Championship final (CIS-SIC.tv webcast)
-CIS-