Larry Read, TRU Sports Information Officer

KAMLOOPS, BC:  The University of Alberta Golden Bears remain unbeaten in Canada West men's soccer. They moved to 7-0-1 on the year as they shutout the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack 1-0 at Hillside Stadium on Friday (Sept 21).

It was the 'Pack's first home match in their last five. The loss extends the teams winless streak to five.

Alberta keeper Connor James made eight saves for the shutout. He has four on the season. The match's lone marker came in the 65 th minute when Ajeej Sarkaria (3^rd year, forward, Edmonton, AB) scored his fifth goal of the year.

 SYNOPSIS

The WolfPack were playing without Canada West MVP Mitchell Popadynetz (5^th year, midfield, Nelson, BC).  TRU had a number of good scoring opportunities against the powerful Golden Bears: both off the foot of Koffi Nyafor (4^th year, middle, Coquitlam, BC) including one, which hit the side of the net in the 41^st minute.

David Chung  (1^st year, midfield, Edmonton, AB) was the main offensive player for Alberta in the first half. He had chances in the 19^th and 21^st minutes. His first shot went wide and the second was blocked. The teams were scoreless at the half.

Thompson Rivers came out flying in the second half but it was the Golden Bears who drew first blood in the 65^th minute. Chung sent the ball between two defenders where Ajeej Sarkaria got the ball, made a move and blasted it low right side on rookie TRU keeper Jackson Gardner (1^st year, Chilliwack, BC).

The WolfPack outshot the Golden Bears 14-7 with eight of those making it to the net.   TRU falls to 1-4-2 on the season.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: 

click here

KEY STATS:

Goal scoring:

1. ALTA—65:10—Ajeej Sarkaria (3^rd year, forward, Edmonton,AB)  takes the through ball from David Chung and blasts the ball low right side.  Sarkaria's fifth goal of the year  ALTA 1  TRU 0

2. Shots:    ALBERTA: 3-4:7   TRU:  6-8:14    Corners:   TRU 0-1:1   ALBERTA: 4-0:4

 Saves:   TRU 0-2:2  ALBERTA:   4-4:8       Shots on Goal:  TRU 0-8     ALBERTA: 4

Fouls:      TRU 11-6:17  ALBERTA:  7-3:10

Keepers:  TRU: Jackson Gardner (1^st year, Chilliwack, BC)    (0-2)

                  ALBERTA: Connor James (5^th year, Edmonton, AB) (7-0-1)

RECORDS:

TRU 1-4-2    ALBERTA: 7-0-1

QUOTES:

TRU head coach John Antulov:

On contest: "I thought our guys played fantastic. We played a really, really good squad. I thought it was a good battle both ways. We had our opportunities. I thought for the most part we held up play well except for that little mishap on the goal and we wound up paying for it."

He thought the Pack controlled most of the first half: " In the first there was a 10 minute spell in the first half where we kind of lost it. In the second half we had a lot of the possession as well. Once again, In the final part of the field we are letting down and getting punished for it."

Coaches Video Post Game Interview: click here

TRU forward James Fraser (3^rd year, forward, Penticton, BC):

On match: " It was a tough loss for us. We have been on a bit of a losing streak.  All we can do is take it one game at a time. U of A is a class team. It was a game of few chances. They took theirs and we didn't take ours. We came out strong in the first half. The boys really wanted this win. We have had a tough season so far. We have a good group of players. The wins will come."

On missing Mitchell Popadynetz: "Big time. Mitch is our key player and and we need him. This week in practice we tried to emphasize getting more shots on goal because they play five at the back. We kind of failed to do that. The boys were looking to be more direct, which was nice. Hopefully going forward we can keep up that momentum."

Fraser's Video Post Game Interview: click here

Alberta Coach Len Vickery (34^th season):

On Victory: "Very Competitive game as all games are these days are in Canada West. We are very fortunate that we got the one break. The ball slept through and we scored. We are happy we got away with this one. The difference in this match was there was going to be a break either way. Fortunately we got it. As we saw in the first half it was even."

On Connor James:  " We played very well defensively. We kept our discipline throughout. We need to progress a little bit in our attacking play. We certainly have the bodies up front to do that. We are looking to get better game by game."

Coaches Video Post Game Interview: click here

UP NEXT:

The WolfPack  wraps up the weekend  tomorrow (Sept 22) with a home match against the Mount Royal University Cougars.  Kick off will be 2 pm at Hillside Stadium. Webcast on Canada West TV will begin around 1:50 pm.  The Golden Bears will head down to the Fraser Valley to meet up with the Trinity Western University Spartans on Saturday (Sept 22)

OF NOTE:   The WolfPack were hosting an International day where the school's students from different countries were honored. It featured an international dance demonstration at half time.  The match featured the return of Finlay McPhie (5^th year, defender, Vernon, BC) to the WolfPack lineup. He had been injured in the opening match of the season. The "TRU Bookstore/McDonalds Leader of the Pack Player of the Match" was Fraser.