TORONTO (CIS) – For the first time in 35 years, the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds will compete for a national title after defeating the UQAM Citadins 3-2 in extra time in the first semifinal at the 2015 CIS men's soccer championship on Saturday afternoon at York Stadium in Toronto.
The Varsity Reds will play for the gold medal in the championship final at 2 p.m. on Sunday, while the Citadins will battle for bronze beginning at 11 a.m. UNB won its lone national title in 1980, in its only previous appearance in the CIS gold-medal match.
Robert Park of Glasgow, United Kingdom, played the role of hero for his team, heading a beautiful pass into the net in the 100th minute for what stood as the winning goal. It was his second tally of the tournament as he also had the team's first goal in the quarter-final win over Victoria.
"It was the most important goal I've scored this season and I'm really happy about it," said Park. "When I saw the ball come in I gambled and closed my eyes and headed it, and it went in!"
The result marked the second time in as many games the Varsity Reds have needed a comeback to advance. On Thursday they were down a goal with five minutes remaining but scored twice before the final whistle to get past the Vikes, and in this contest they trailed 2-0 after 32 minutes of play.
UQAM opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Kevin Le Nours of Isres, France, passed the ball into the box from the left wing that Simon-Pierre Cote-Kougnima of Longueuil, Que., redirected into the back of the net for an early 1-0 lead.
Later in the half, the Varsity Reds had a couple of good scoring chances that ended with a save by CIS rookie of the year Valentin Lamoulie of Aix-en-Provence, France. The play quickly went the other way and Andre Bona of Marseille, France, sent a beautiful left foot ball into the net in the 33rd minute for a 2-0 advantage for the Citadins.
The two-goal advantage was short-lived, however, as three minutes later the Varsity Reds got on the scoreboard themselves. Marcus Lees of Barrie, Ont., who was named a CIS second-team all-Canadian earlier this week, made a great run up the left wing and crossed the ball into the box. Oliver Jones of London made no mistake, firing the ball into the top corner of the net to cut the score to 2-1.
Lees was involved again 10 minutes later as the Varsity Reds found the equalizer. He was hauled down just outside the box and the UNB was rewarded with a free kick. Diego Padilha of Maceió, Brazil, stepped up to take the kick and curled his shot around Lamoulie and into the net to tie it 2-2 just before the half.
The second half was the Brandon Eagle show, as UNB's goalkeeper from Edmonton made numerous big saves to keep his team in the match. He finished with seven and was named the Varsity Reds player of the game.
"I am over the moon," he said of the result. "I just wanted to keep my team in it. We set this goal at the beginning of the year and I am just speechless right now."
UNB's first good scoring chance of the second half came in the 54th minute, but the header by Matt Mountney of Cheshire, United Kingdom, went just over the crossbar.
UQAM pressed for the go-ahead goal and nearly got it on two occasions near the end of the half. In the 74th minute, a long run by Cote-Kougnima ended with a hard shot that was saved by Eagle, and five minutes later UQAM was awarded a free kick just on the outside of the 18-yard box. UNB built a wall in front of Eagle and Armel Dagrou's shot hit it and rolled away.
The Citadins were aggressive to start the first overtime but Eagle stood tall, punching the ball away on one corner attempt and making another save on Maxim Leconte of Montreal from a set piece. It was enough to hold on until Park later scored to complete the comeback, and now they are looking ahead at the chance to win a championship on Sunday.
"I haven't been worried yet," said Eagle about his team trailing in both contests. "Even down with five minutes left on Thursday I knew we were going to come back, and I had no doubt today. I knew we would rally and come back. Grit is a big word for us this year and that is going to be huge for us tomorrow."
"We don't feel any pressure at all," added Park. "We have the belief that we can do it and that this is our year. We have the faith and desire, and as we showed in the last two games we have the grit and determination to come back."
UQAM's player of the match was Wilfred Girard of Marli, Martinique.
SCORING SUMMARY:
UNB 2-0-1-0: 3
UQAM 2-0-0-0: 2
First Half
1. UQAM Simon-Pierre Cote-Kougnima (1), 17th minute
2. UQAM Andre Bona (1), 33rd
3. UNB Oliver Jones (1), 36th
4. UNB Diego Padilha (1), 45th
Second Half
(no scoring)
Extra Time (2 x 15 mins - no golden goal)
5. UNB Robert Park (2), 100th
Goalkeepers:
UNB: Brandon Eagle (W, 2 GA, 7 saves, 120:00, 2-0)
UQAM: Valentin Lamoulie (L, 3 GA, 4 saves, 120:00, 1-1)
Team Stats
Shots: UNB 15, UQAM 19
Shots on net: UNB 7, UQAM 9
Corners: UNB 7, UQAM 16
Fouls: UNB 9, UQAM 20
Yellow cards: UQAM (Andre Bona)
Red cards: None
Players of the game:
UNB: Brandon Eagle
UQAM: Wilfred Girard
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Thursday, Nov. 12
11:00 Quarter-final 1: UQAM 2, McMaster 1 (4-3 kicks)
13:30 Quarter-final 2: UNB 3, Victoria 2
16:00 Quarter-final 3: UBC 3, Toronto 0
19:00 Quarter-final 4: York 4, Cape Breton 1
Friday, Nov. 13
11:00 Consolation 1: McMaster 2, Victoria 1
13:30 Consolation 2: Cape Breton 3, Toronto 0
Saturday, Nov. 14
11:00 Semifinal 1: UNB 3, UQAM 2 (OT)
13:30 Semifinal 2: UBC vs. York (CIS-SIC.tv)
16:00 5th-place game: McMaster vs. Cape Breton (CIS-SIC.tv)
Sunday, Nov. 15
11:00 Bronze medal: UQAM vs. TBD (CIS-SIC.tv)
14:00 Championship final: UNB vs. TBD (CIS-SIC.tv)