Aneesa Heatherington/UBC Thunderbirds
VANCOUVER – On a night honouring their graduating seniors, the UBC Thunderbirds closed out the Canada West men's soccer regular season on Saturday night by defeating the Thompson Rivers WolfPack 2-1 at Thunderbird Stadium, a result that helped knock TRU out of league playoff contention.
After clinching the Pacific Division title in thrilling fashion, the Thunderbirds took an opportunity to rest a few starters Saturday night – including captain Bryan Fong. In his place, veteran defender Jacob Quail donned the captain's armband for his final regular season game as a T-Bird.
"It feels pretty good to be honest," said Quail. "It's been a long journey to get here. [UBC head voach Mike] Mosher told us in the locker room that I put in a lot of minutes…a lot of hours…a lot of sweat, and it feels good to wear the armband in a victory."
The vocal defender knew his side needed to set the stage for a do-or-die home playoff game next week.
"We have pride on this field. We don't lose here. Kudos to them for putting in the shift and making it interesting."
UBC opened the scoring early when last night's hero, Ryan Arthur, found the net again, this time in the fourth minute. He tried to get to the end of a pass into the penalty area and collided with TRU goalkeeper Claye Harsany. The ball then bounced right to Arthur at the side of the net, and he was able to tap it into the open goal for the score.
As the clocked ticked down in the opening half, the WolfPack's playoff hopes suffered another blow when Lucas Reisrecorded his third Canada West goal of the season to double the 'Bird's lead. Reis headed the ball towards the TRU net from about 20 yards out. In the box, UBC's Liam McManaman went up to head the ball but missed. His attempt fooled Harsany and the ball bounced into the goal untouched after Reis got his head on the ball.
Down 2-0, the visiting WolfPack were relentless in the second half and drew to within one in the 76th minute. Standing at the right sideline, Maxime Fieujean sent a cross into the UBC penalty area, where former T-Bird Ryan Glanville was able to head in his 10th goal of the regular season.
TRU had two corner kicks after the Glanville marker but couldn't muster any more offence.
Tonight's result in Vancouver, combined with UBC Okanagan's last-minute 3-2 win at Victoria, means the Heat, not the WolfPack will not advance to the Canada West playoffs.
Mike Mosher, the 2015 Canada West Coach of the Year, is confident his Thunderbirds squad will be set to defend their title from a season ago.
"I think we're healthy, I think we're fresh, and I think we'll be ready to go for a decent playoff run."
In his last year as a T-Bird, Fong recognizes the tough road ahead.
"This is a great group of guys and it's been an honour and privilege to be their captain this year…but hopefully we'll go for a few more weeks together. We want to make sure training is good and intense this week and make sure our bodies are game-ready. It'll be fun because anything can happen."
UBC will host the fourth seed of the Prairie Division for a Canada West quarter-final tilt next Friday night at Thunderbird Stadium.
IMAGE CREDIT: Rich Lam/UBC Thunderbirds