KELOWNA, BC – With both Thompson Rivers and UBC Okanagan needing a win on Friday night to climb the Canada West men's soccer standings it was neither team able to get the game winner goal, and the Interior Rivals play to a (1-1) draw on the Nonis Sports Field in Kelowna.
This was UBC Okanagan's second straight 1-1 draw, and the second straight time these two teams played to a 1-1 draw. Last October in the last game of the regular season these two battled for a similar 1-1 draw.
Eerily similar to last year's game the 'Pack finished the game a man down, but TRU keeper Travis Froehlich was up to the task. He made four saves and faced 12 shots in the 90 minutes.
Ryan Granville put himself on top of the leaderboard of goal scorers and his team out front first in tonight's game when his shot to the bottom right corner of the net in the 13th minute beat UBCO keeper Tait Cuthill. Third year midfielder Mike Harvey set up Granville for his sixth of the season.
The relentless Heat side continued to press the opposition in the first half and eventually earned themselves a penalty in the 42nd minute. Enzo Paal would once again convert the PK as he deftly sent the TRU keeper the wrong way. Paal earned his third goal of the season, all three have come from penalty kicks, and the third year forward had an excellent overall game as he took five shots with three of those being on goal.
He was able to keep the game knotted at one when he made a crucial save on Heat forward Cole Kingzett in a one on one goal scoring opportunity midway through the second half. The fifth year keeper from Revelstoke foiled Kingzett after he charged off his lines to block out Kingzett's attempt on goal.
Froelich was able to keep the game knotted at one when he made a crucial save on Heat forward Cole Kingzett in a one on one goal scoring opportunity midway through the second half. The fifth year keeper from Revelstoke foiled Kingzett after he charged off his lines to block out Kingzett's attempt on goal.
As longtime rivals tonight's match, like many others in the series, was marred with a large number of fouls being committed by both the sides as hosts UBC Okanagan were guilty of 13 fouls while the visiting Wolfpack ended the game with 15.
In the net for UBC Okanagan Tait Cuthill would finish making six saves, he now has 43 on the year, second most in the conference. He has also played 810 minutes in goal tops in the conference, in spite of all the minutes and shots Cuthill boasts the fourth best goals against average at 1.22.
Both sides are in the hunt for a berth in playoffs as their campaign continues when the two teams meet once again, with no rest, as they play tomorrow night in Kamloops. The WolfPack go home with a (1-4-2) record and sit in sixth in the table. UBC Okanagan have played nine of their twelve conference matches and are (2-4-3) fifth in the Canada West Pacific Division.
Hillside Stadium in Kamloops the rivalry will be re-heated at 7 p.m. (Sat. Oct. 10).
~ Nimai Trivadi // Heat communications