Men’s Soccer takes third at CIS Nationals
November 24, 2005
Theoden Remigio
Congratulations to our men’s soccer team - Canada West Champions and CIS bronze medalists. On Saturday, November 5, the Spartan men’s soccer team battled with the UBC Thunderbirds and came out on top as Canada West Champions with a 2-1 victory. The title is the first for a Trinity men’s team and the second title in the school’s seven-year Canadian Interuniversity Sport history. The other title belongs to our ladies’ soccer team, who won us the Canada West title on their way to being crowned national champs last year.
The game got off to a fast start as the Thunderbirds struck first, taking the lead 28 minutes into the game when Brian Reems (Nanaimo, BC) headed in a cross from Ben Decosse (North Vancouver, BC).
The goal took away a bit of the heart of the Spartans and their fans, but less than three minutes later the momentum of the match changed dramatically. Spartan forward Todd Anderson (Langley, BC) went in down the right-hand side of the park and sent the ball towards the UBC net. It rocketed past the Thunderbirds’ keeper and took a strange bounce off of a UBC defender’s leg and into the goal to tie the score 1-1.
Jubilation swept Spartan Nation and for the next ten minutes the pace of the match escalated as both teams tried to exploit opportunities to put their squad ahead. In the 44th minute Trinity’s Justin Cordick (Anmore, BC) shot a free kick towards the far side of the UBC net where Nathan Square-Briggs (Richmond, BC) headed it into the back of the net. We had the lead and we weren’t going to give it up.a
The second half did not disappoint, as both squads battled fiercely with many quality chances to score. In the final ten minutes the Thunderbirds put everybody forward in an attempt to tie the game, and it looked as if they were going to succeed when UBC’s Steve Deblasie (Burnaby, BC) shot the ball from the top of the box. The ball took an arching flight towards the goal and was stopped by Trinity’s Chris Cecil, who made a diving save to preserve the Spartan win.
Fresh off their Canada West victory, the Spartans headed to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island for the CIS championship. The CIS moved to an eight-team, single-knockout draw for the first time, which meant that both the Spartans and the Thunderbirds would compete at UPEI for the national title.
Trinity Western lost a heartbreaking game in a shootout to the University of Toronto in the semi-finals. A last ditch attempt by Toronto to tie the game proved successful. In the 90th minute, every player, including Toronto’s keeper, moved in front of the Spartan goal during a Toronto corner kick. Toronto’s goalkeeper found the ball in the scrum and scored the winning goal on the last play of the game. Toronto scored all five of their penalty kicks to win the game.
The boys regrouped after the 4-3 loss and beat host UPEI 2-1 in the bronze medal match. Jason Flint opened the scoring in the 27th minute, beating the Panther’s goalkeeper. The Spartans scored four straight times in the shootout to capture the CIS bronze medal. The boys were not to be denied a medal at the national championship.
The UBC Thunderbirds – the team TWU beat for Canada West gold – won the CIS title, defeating Toronto 2-1.
Now you go...
Got something to say?