Nov 4 Heading to the Big Show

Men’s Soccer (Canada West Playoffs)
Friday, November 04, 2005
TWU Spartans (1) vs. the University of Alberta (0)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    

Heading to the Big Show
Spartans top Golden Bears 1-0 to advance to Gold Medal Match and CIS National Championship

LANGLEY, British Columbia – The rains from the sky held off, but tears of joy flowed from the Spartans and their faithful fans as the Trinity Western University men’s soccer team defeated the University of Alberta 1-0 in Friday’s Canada West semi-final match. The victory gives the Spartans an automatic berth in next weeks CIS national championship in PEI.

“It is so enjoyable to watch your players play with passion,” said TWU head coach Al Alderson. “Tonight we went out and the boys stepped up and played with heart and passion.”

The Spartans will now play the University of British Columbia, who defeated the University of Calgary 1-0 in the other semi-final for the Canada West championship. The match will be played Saturday night at 6 pm at TWU’s Langley, BC campus.

Fifth year forward Drew Roddy (Minneapolis, MN) got the Spartans lone goal in the 32nd minute. Roddy was the beneficiary of a strong run by fellow forward Todd Anderson (1st yr, Langley, BC). Anderson broke down the left side of the pitch and just before he went out of touch off of the end line he sent the ball to the goal crease. The ball went past Alberta keeper Devon Fraser (Winnipeg, MB) to an open Roddy, who was charging towards the far post. Roddy neatly one timed the ball into the open right hand side of the net.

The two teams battled back and forth it the second half. Alberta got the upper hand on TWU in the 72nd minute when TWU defender Patrick Kelly (3rd yr, Cochrane, AB) was given a red card. The Golden Bears man advantage over the final 18 minutes of the match made for high drama as Alberta continually put balls towards the TWU net.

Anderson almost made it 2-0 for the Spartans as he was sent in alone from center on a TWU counter attack. With two Alberta defenders on his heals Anderson sent the ball high over a charging Fraser and over the top of the Bears net.

TWU keeper Chris Cecil saved the win in the 90th minute when he made a diving save off of a well struck ball by Alberta’s Ben Drummond (Edmonton, AB).

Alberta will now play the University of Calgary for the Canada West bronze medal. Match time tomorrow afternoon at TWU is set for 3:30 pm. TWU will play the University of British Columbia tomorrow night at 6 pm at TWU.

The 2005 CIS men’s soccer national championships are hosted by the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown, PEI.

Match Notes: Alberta out shot TWU 14-12...TWU midfielder Nick Perugini (3rd yr, Montreal, PQ) was named player of the match...Fraser made four saves for the Bears, while Cecil made five saves to earn the shutout...It will be TWU men’s soccer’s first appearance at the CIS national championship... With the CIS moving to an eight-team, single-knockout draw for the first time this year, Canada West has two berths into the national tournament, meaning the conference semifinal winners are both moving on to UPEI in Charlottetown next week...

-TW-

Last Updated: 2009-09-03
Author: Scott Stewart
Email: ssstew@twu.ca