On Saturday night in Kelowna, UBC men’s soccer beat the UBCO Heat 2–0.
This solid game earned the Thunderbirds their third straight shutout road win. It was a big game for Luke Norman who scored both goals for the T-Birds, earning him his fourth and fifth goals of the season. For the whole game, UBC held possession and UBCO struggled to get the ball to UBC’s side.
The T-Bird’s first goal happened early, as UBC came out with ferocity right from the start. A great chance came when Henri Godbout was taken down hard, giving UBC a close range free kick. Brennen Fuerst, taking the free kick, had a great ball into the box where Norman got a piece of it, scoring with a header only five minutes into the game.
The Thunderbirds earned their second goal in the 35th minute when once again Norman came through for UBC. Fuerst, after beating UBCO’s Matteo Clarke, gave another great ball to Norman in the box. Norman sent it over to Jost Hausendorf who passed it right back to Norman for a striking shot through the hands of Heat goalkeeper Ronan Woodroffe.
The Thunderbirds set the tone for the first half as they dominated, outshooting the Heat 16–1. Starting the second half, the Heat stepped up their defence, pressure and intensity. However, even with their new found liveliness, UBCO could not score as the Thunderbirds continued to outperform them.
Everytime the Heat got possession they took too long to make decisions, and the Thunderbirds were immediately pressuring them, shutting down any chances. UBC had faster and sharper gameplay that UBCO could ultimately not break away from.
The Heat did have some chances in the second half, the closest in the 58th minute. Tavin Williams hit a header off the post and then got his foot on the ball trying to find the net, but UBC’s goalkeeper Bennett McKay saved it. The shot was close — the ball just on the line — but was ruled to have not gone in.
With yet another road win, the Thunderbirds moved to a 7–0–2 record and will be heading home to play the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves at Thunderbird Stadium this Friday at 7:30 p.m.
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