(SYDNEY, NS) The No. 3 seeded UNB REDS advanced to the semi-finals at the Subway Atlantic University Sport men's soccer championship with a 1-0 victory over the No. 6 seed Memorial Sea-Hawks, on Thursday night.
AUS 1st Team All-Star Grant Takacs (Woodstock, ON) scored the game's only goal in the 70th minute.
REDS midfielder Mathew Quigley (Chester Basin, NS) stopped a Sea-Hawks clearing attempt before directing the ball back into Memorial's 18-yard box. Takacs was in perfect position, and on side, and deftly volleyed the ball past Memorial keeper Dylan Crichton (Torbay, NL).
"They got a half clearance on a ball in from Tom, that fell for Quigs and I knew he would deliver yet another a great ball over-top," said Takacs. "I knew that once we got that goal we could see the game out and secure our eighth win of the season."
In a scoreless first half, Takacs notched the first scoring opportunity of the match, but he missed with his shot attempt.
Emmanuel Dolo (St. John's, NL), an AUS 1st Team All-Star as well, earned the first quality chance for the Sea-Hawks, but his strike went wide of the UNB net and keeper Josh Doupe (Sarnia, ON).
Later in the opening 45 minutes, Dolo found Matt Davis (Conception Bay South, NL) at the top of the box, but Doupe steered aside his hard shot.
Early in the second half, the REDS' Roan Saengmeng (Charlottetown, PE) got free for a scoring opportunity, but Crichton made the stop.
Around the 60th minute, the REDS came up empty on consecutive corner kicks, while a couple minutes later the Sea-Hawks were denied on a free kick.
Then, in the 70th minute, after Crichton corralled a corner kick, he tried to send a long pass to Dolo, but Quigley intercepted and sent the ball accurately to Takacs for his goal and a highlight reel play.
Over the final 20 minutes, UNB barred the door defensively, giving Memorial few chances to find an equalizer.
"We had a really solid performance as a team," said REDS head coach Barry Morrison. "We did well to close down their attacking threats, and defend on set pieces. We settled into the game and gained confidence as the game went on, which allowed Grant to get an outstanding goal, finding space behind their defence and a class finish."
The REDS move on to face the tournament's second-seed and host, Cape Breton Capers.
Friday's semi-final is scheduled for 7:00pm Atlantic.
RECAP BY: Corey Leblanc/for CBU Athletics and Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics
PHOTOS BY: Vaughan Merchant/for CBU Athletics