When the officials made the announcement at the 120-minute mark of the Canada West semifinal that there would be an additional five minutes of stoppage time before the game headed to penalties, for both teams, it had to feel a bit like an exercise in futility. After all, both UBC Men’s soccer and the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) Cascades had played through two halves and nearly two periods of extra time without breaking a scoreless tie, locked in an intense defensive battle. Through two hours of play, both teams had only a combined five shots on goal. With both teams’ seasons on the line, it seemed clear — the game would come down to a shootout.
Yet, almost exactly five minutes after stoppage time had been announced, the impossible happened. On their final rush up the field, defender Marcus Puhalj lofted the ball up into the box — hoping for one of his teammates to get a final crack at it. While a UFV defender got to it first, they were only able to pop the ball back up in the air with a header — the ball hanging in the air as the final seconds of play ticked away. As the ball came down, it fell right to ‘Birds midfielder Luke Norman, who took a desperate shot, but was blocked.
After that block, however, the ball again bounced UBC’s way. Falling right on the foot of second-year sensation Henri Godbout, the forward didn’t hesitate. With one kick, the ball flew past the outstretched arms of UFV keeper Matheus De Souza. The Cascades’ season was over. UBC was moving on.
“Oh my god, I mean, we knew it was the last kick of the game,” said Godbout. “My first instinct [was] to get first touch and just smash it in. It was just so much emotion. I think I blacked out there. I don't even know what happened.”
As Godbout ran off the field in celebration, being mobbed by his teammates, numerous Cascades players dropped to the pitch, in agony over what could have been. For UFV, the chance to go to the Canada West final for the first time in program history was gone.
For most of the game, however, it seemed like a real possibility. While UBC came into the game as the clear favourites, going 15–0–1 in conference play, the ‘Birds knew they would have to take this Cascades team seriously. Despite dominating the regular season, winning the vast majority of their games by multi-goal margins, the UFV team was the one puzzle the T-Birds couldn’t solve — fighting to a 0–0 draw back on Oct. 5.
Right from the kickoff, this semifinal match seemed to have a similar tenor. While UBC controlled play early, hemming the Cascades in their own zone, UFV’s tight defence didn’t allow anything past them. Any time that the ‘Birds looked to thread the ball closer to the UFV goal, the Cascades defenders would immediately swarm to overwhelm the ‘Birds attack, forcing them back to the perimeter.
Playing this compact style of defence worked exceptionally well for UFV, as despite the ‘Birds owning the ball in the first half, they only managed one shot on net. After the game, UBC head coach Mike Mosher emphasized the challenge of playing against a defensive scheme like the one UFV runs.
“I mean it's not easy, right? Teams are well coached, well organized, and when they sit in like that it's difficult,” he said. “But again, we've persevered. You play until the final whistle.”
UBC didn’t see its first quality chance until the 19th minute, taking advantage of a corner kick to run a set play — passing the ball back to team captain, Markus Kaiser, who launched a high-flying bullet of a pass across the face of goal, right on to the foot of a leaping Max Comsia. While Comsia was in the perfect position to put one home, he couldn’t quite get the angle on it and instead of hitting the back of the net, it flew up into the air, to be gathered by De Souza.
It wasn’t really until the 23rd minute where we saw UFV starting to get any sustained possession in the ‘Birds end of the field, getting off a couple shots and forcing a few corner kicks. Yet, rarely were any of the Cascades’ chances quality. Instead, UFV looked to capitalize on transition, waiting for the ‘Birds to make a mistake while on the attack to turn things around quickly going the other way.
At the end of the first half, while still shutting down the ‘Birds attack, the Cascades looked to do just that. After UFV intercepted a T-Birds’ pass on their own side of the field, they quickly mobilized to turn it the other way. With a long lead pass up the field, Cascades forward Mateo Brazinha found some space along the outside, trying to speed past UBC’s back line. While Brazinha looked to potentially have an angle to the goal for a brief moment, Puhalj did a great job holding his position for the ‘Birds, forcing the ball out of bounds.
The Cascades’ aggressive style of defence meant that, when UBC was given a chance, it was imperative that they converted. In the last few moments before halftime, the ‘Birds had an opportunity off a corner that they’d likely want to have back. With midfielder Jovan Mann arcing the ball into the box, it curved, right into the outstretched hands of De Souza, who got a finger on the ball — not fully deflecting it away. Off that tip, the ball fell right in front of Comsia, with the keeper out of position. He wasn’t able to get a solid shot off, as a UFV defender was draped all over him, causing him to miss the chance at a semi-open net.
Coming out of the locker room, the ‘Birds didn’t seem disparaged by their lack of offensive success, hitting the field with renewed energy, getting some of their best chances of the game in the opening five minutes. Theo Afework found space close to the net, hitting a shot that went just high. Two minutes later, a shot from distance by defender Cameron Hajdu curved just wide of the top corner of the net. A few minutes after that, a shot from point-blank range by the ‘Birds was saved by a gutsy block from UFV defender Adam Szymanski. It seemed like space was opening up for the ‘Birds that simply wasn’t there in the first half.
For Mosher, the ability of his team to stay steady despite a lack of overall chances — finding those windows of opportunity where they could — was a key reason the ‘Birds came out on top.
“I mean, it is patience. Gosh, the number of times I've said that over the course of this weekend, that word,” he said. “They made it really difficult for us, and we just had to believe and keep pushing right up until the final kick. When a team sits like that, it's so much more difficult to create great chances — you've got to take them when they come.”
Unfortunately for UBC, that momentum didn’t last. As they had been doing all game, UFV allowed the ‘Birds to control possession, but were quick on the counterattack, almost breaking the deadlock in the 55th minute. As the ball rolled into UBC’s end, there was a miscommunication between the T-Birds’ Eric Lajeunesse and their keeper, Jack Garner, around who would take control of the ball. The hesitation from both sides allowed UFV’s Kevin Mailand to sneak in, almost getting a crack at the ball into a wide-open net — being blocked by Garner while diving to the ground, nearly fifteen yards out of the goal.
While the ‘Birds would get a couple more solid chances throughout the half, nothing really challenged the stout UFV defence. As the game went on, with the clock winding close to the 90-minute mark, it became clear for both teams that whoever scored next would likely be the winner. Given the stakes, with each passing minute, the tension ratcheted up. For UBC, they had to start considering the possibility that, if one play broke the wrong way, their season would be over. Not only would they not get a shot at the Canada West title — but only teams that make it to their conference’s gold medal match get an invite to nationals. By losing this game, a nearly undefeated season could be rendered meaningless.
That thought had to be percolating for the ‘Birds, especially as UFV looked as dangerous as they had all day in the final 10 minutes of the half. The Cascades finally started to maintain possession, pushing to get the tiebreaker before extra time. As the game shifted into stoppage time, the ‘Birds were nearly handed a heartbreaker. Off a UBC throw-in, the ball was played back to the Cascades, who managed to cross the ball into the box, dropping right in front of UBC’s net. While Garner was quick to jump on the shot, as he fell to the ground, the ball popped loose from his hands, with UFV swarming to capitalize on the open net. Fortunately for the keeper, Puhlaj was again able to make a key play, clearing it out of harm’s way before the Cascades could convert.
As the game headed into extra time, with UFV establishing themselves more on offence, the pace became much more back-and-forth than it had all day, with UBC no longer dominating possession as much as they had prior. The Cascades were pushing for a winner. Yet, in doing so, that opened things up for the ‘Birds. Off a near-perfect pass from Norman, Godbout was in perfect position to head home a potential game-winner four minutes into the additional frame — but De Souza made perhaps the best play of the day, aggressively coming out of his net to dive above Godbout, knocking the ball away just before the striker could put it home.
After that chance, it was the Cascades who came closest to ending it. As they had all day, they took advantage in the transition game, forcing a turnover while UBC was on the attack, before quickly breaking upfield, past UBC defenders, to spring a three-on-two rush at the other end. While Garner was able to calmly make the save off the chance, the Cascades flipping the field gave them perhaps their best opportunity of the day a couple of minutes later, a free kick from just outside the box. In a tight, defensive battle, you wouldn’t be able to set yourself up any better if you tried. Yet, on the attempt, the Cascades shot sailed high above the net. The teams played on.
In the second period of extra time, it felt as if both teams were playing a bit tentatively. Having not been able to solve the other’s defence all day, penalties seemed like the only logical way to decide the game. For the final 15 minutes, while there was some back-and-forth, neither team played too aggressively, not wanting to make the mistake that would end their season. The final seconds of added time ticked down, and the players prepared for a shootout. Then, bedlam.
Aside from the timing of the goal, Godbout’s strike was particularly surprising given how stout the Cascades’ defence had been all day. It wasn’t as if UBC was struggling to generate pressure — they were essentially pressuring UFV all day. Yet, that pressure didn’t seem to matter when the T-Birds couldn’t find space to get any quality shots. For Godbout, who also had the game-winner in the prior quarterfinal against the University of Alberta — also a late-game tally — the T-Birds’ status as one of the more dangerous teams in the country invites this conservative style of play.
“We're the No. 1 ranked team in the country, so we know that a lot of teams have to kind of change their strategy or sit in that low block against us,” he said. “UFV has always given us a challenge because they're very good at doing that.”
With the win, UBC clinched their ticket — not just to the Canada West finals, but to nationals in Toronto as well, qualifying as a conference finalist. While the ‘Birds will obviously be looking to take home the Canada West crown, no matter what happens next week, they’ll have the opportunity to defend their national title.
“We get a chance to go and defend the championship in Toronto. Despite the challenges of these last two games, we're worthy of it,” said Mosher. “That's not being arrogant or anything, it's a good group, it's a good side. And I think they've earned it on the balance of the season.”
First, they’ll have to take on the Prairie Division leaders, the Mount Royal University Cougars. The Cougars advanced to the finals off a game that was even more dramatic than UBC’s — tying the University of Victoria Vikes with a goal in added time in the second half, before taking the game in penalties. The shootout came down to the keepers, with Mount Royal keeper Sjard Strauss scoring the game winner, with the Cougars advancing 10–9.
It’ll be fascinating to see how both teams respond to their respective marathon contests — while they have a week off between the semifinals and the gold medal match, games like that can still drain you. For Mosher, however, he’s taking things one game at a time.
“I was not bothered about what was going on [in Mount Royal], everything was here,” he said. “Now we focus on that next one. I guess we've got to get flights booked and so forth. But [we’re] just thrilled to be back in the Canada West final once again and going to nationals again.”
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