Scheduled Game: UVIC - CW F4 at UBC

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GAME RESULTS 1 2 T Victoria 1 1 2 « FINAL Trinity Western 0 1 1

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Game Recap

MEN’S SOCCER (CANADA WEST FINAL FOUR)
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2009
NO. 5 TWU SPARTANS (1) VS THE NO. 9 UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA VIKES (2)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VIKES WILL PLAY FOR CANADA WEST GOLD AFTER EDGING SPARTANS IN SEMIS

VANCOUVER – William Gye's spectacular first-minute goal put Victoria in the driver's seat, and James Rhodes' second half tally turned out to be the winner as the Vikes held on for a 2-1 win over the Trinity Western Spartans in the first Canada West semifinal.

The ball barely had time to get wet on a rainy Friday evening at Thunderbird Park before Gye got his Vikes on the board. Less than a minute after the opening whistle, Victoria's Cole McFarlane stripped a Spartan defender and managed to play a bouncing ball over to Gye about 25 yards away from the net. Gye cracked a powerful volley-shot towards the far post, catching Spartans keeper Andrew Fink by surprise as it sailed just past his fingertips and into the top corner.

The action was fairly even for most of the game until Rhodes doubled the Vikes lead in the 66th minute.  Corey Sanford got his head to a cross inside the Spartans' penalty area, knocking the ball down into a crowd of players in the 6-yard box. Rhodes managed to pick the loose ball out of a forest of legs and tuck it home to give Victoria a 2-0 lead.

"Once we scored that second one it was pretty much a nail in the coffin, and we were unlucky not to score one or two more to be honest," said Victoria head coach Bruce Wilson. "Full credit to our team. The last three or four games of the season we were awesome and today we did our job to get into the finals."

The Spartans weren't about to lie down after falling behind by two however. They pressured the Vikes hard in the final minutes and eventually pulled one back in the 87th, when Canada West Player of the Year Paul Hamilton's 20-yard free-kick deflected off the wall and in, just inside the near post.

"I was disappointed that we gave a goal away," said Wilson. "That was a mistake by our centre backs. Give credit to Hamilton for knocking it in but we shouldn't be giving away those kinds of free kicks so late in the game. Having said that, we got the two goals and made it stick, and at the end of the day we are in the finals."

Victoria will now play for Canada West gold and the final CIS tournament berth on Saturday. The Spartans already have the host berth for nationals and will be competing for third place tomorrow, but they have struggled lately, going 0-2-1 in their past three matches extending back to the regular season.

"What's concerning is the goals we are letting in," said Trinity Western head coach Pat Rohla. "They aren't the kind of goals we like to give away - balls in the box just dropping to feet. That is disappointing and it's something we have to figure out....Two goals-against per game isn't going to win championships so we have to straighten it out defensively and take away opportunities."

Victoria will play the winner of the second semifinal game between Alberta and UBC on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. for the Canada West title. The winner of that title game will get a spot at the CIS tournament, hosted by Trinity Western.

The Spartans will meet the loser of the Alberta-UBC game in the bronze medal match on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.  All games are at UBC’s Thunderbird Park.

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-courtesy UBC sports information

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