LANGLEY, B.C. – The Spartans men's soccer team defeated the Calgary Dinos 1-0 Saturday night at Chase Office Field in Langley, in what was a rematch of last year's Canada West quarter-final contest.
Cody Fransen (Lydnen, Wash.) scored in the 29th minute, when he headed home what would stand up as the game-winner. After a long cross from
Noah Kroeker (Calgary) into the box,
Jacob Low (Port Moody, B.C.) flicked it on to the head of Fransen, who buried it.
On a rainy evening, the Spartans (3-3) had a total of 29 shots, including 17 on target, while limiting the Dinos (4-3) to three total shots and not a single one on goal.
Calgary goalie Jake Ruschkowski made 15 saves in a losing cause, while TWU goalie
Sebastian Colyn (Langley) took the clean sheet without being forced to make a stop.
The Spartan pressed offensively, but came up empty as the Dinos backline was able to keep the game to just a one-goal difference.
TWU had a couple of close calls as the Spartans looked to double their lead, but a pair of second-half offside calls nixed chances that would have opened the game up.
The game saw five yellow cards handed out, with TWU's
Joey Seo (Victoria) and
Bryce Prochnau (Edmonton) and Calgary's Eryk Kobza, Cristiano De Carvalho and Mark Bohdan all booked.
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Mike Shearon
"It was a good performance today. We talked a lot about having to match energy on the second night. We talked a lot about ball movement and keeping good possession and staying strong defensively. Full marks across the board for us tonight. I thought Calgary put a good fight up in terms of their defensive work and made it hard all the way to the end. In Canada West soccer, you can never rest easy on a 1-0 lead. I'm just happy we got out with the victory and a six point weekend.
"To get two wins this weekend is massive. It's massive for the young guys and for the belief in what we can do. I don't think we ever stopped believing that we were an alright team, but it's just when the results don't happen, you start to second guess. It was a good weekend, but now it's over and we need to be ready to play away from home."
NOTABLE
• The Spartans are now 3-1 at home this year, having now won their last two, including Friday night's win over Lethbridge (5-0).
• TWU is now 16-3-3 all-time against Calgary at Chase Office Field.
• The Spartans are also now unbeaten against Calgary in their last six meetings, dating back to 2015 (5-0-1)
• Saturday's game was a rematch of last year's quarter-final contest, which saw TWU beat the Dinos in penalties to advance to the Canada West Final Four.
UP NEXT
The Spartans now head to the road, taking on Saskatchewan Saturday afternoon in Saskatoon (Sep. 21st), before taking on Mount Royal Sunday afternoon in Calgary (Sep. 22).
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