VANCOUVER – The Trinity Western men's soccer team saw its dreams of a return to the CIS men's soccer championship dashed Friday night in Vancouver. The Spartans were beaten 2-1 by the University of Victoria Vikes at UBC's Thunderbird Stadium. With the win Victoria advances to the Canada West final and the CIS championship next week at York University in Toronto.
The loss drops the Spartans to the bronze medal match Saturday at 5 p.m. against Fraser Valley, who lost 3-0 against UBC in the other semifinal. It will be the final contest of the 2015 season for both teams.
It took a late goal from midfielder Sam Prette, but the Vikes earned their place in the Canada West final, where they'll face the Thunderbirds. The teams traded goals in the first half, with Victoria's Michael Baart opening the scoring before the Spartans Taylor Johnson (Calgary) responded.
The opening half saw a solid defensive effort from both sides, but neither TWU, nor Victoria could hold the other at bay entirely.
After a physical, tightly contested opening, TWU was put at a disadvantage 27 minutes into the contest, as defender Kalem Scott (Comox, B.C.) was shown a red card.
Victoria drew first blood just ahead of the 30-minute mark, as recently-crowned Canada West Most Valuable Player Cam Hundal found Michael Baart with a nifty pass that reached him well inside the TWU 18-yard box. The 6-foot-2 Baart made no mistake and his marker put the Vikes up 1-0.
The Spartans didn't waste time getting back on even footing, as just six minutes later, TWU got a goal of its own off of the head of Johnson. After midfielder Vito Poletto (Calgary) delivered a beautiful corner kick, Johnson did well to find a soft spot in the defense and time his leap perfectly, deflecting the ball past Victoria keeper Noah Pawlowski.
The majority of the second half passed with the same caliber of play as the first – though both teams played well in transition, neither side could find any semblance of touch in the final third that would allow them to break the deadlock.
The best chance for the Spartans came in the 81st minute, as midfielder Matthew Roxburgh (Langley, B.C.) got in alone on Pawlowski from in close. The Vikes keeper came up huge, making a terrific stop while falling backwards, and keeping the game even up at 1-1.
Just two minutes later, Victoria's attack rewarded their goalkeeper's efforts. Prette, taking a feed in space down the left flank, paused and took a step towards the middle of the field. Still 30 yards out, the midfielder unleashed a curling strike that bent just inside the right post, beating TWU netminder Hicks.
The Spartans pressed hard to equalize in the closing minutes, but failed to beat Pawlowski, giving the Vikes the 2-1 decision.
Game Notes: Since Rohla took over as head coach in 2009, TWU has advanced to the Final Four on four different occasions, but the Spartans gaffer is still in search of his first Canada West semifinal win…in their two previous games against bronze medal foe UFV, the Spartans lost 4-1 on the road and drew 2-2 at home…TWU goalie Andrew Hicks (Surrey, B.C.) and Victoria goalie Noah Pawlowski both made four saves on the night.
-UBC-
