UBC men’s soccer made a stunning late comeback to gatecrash the Trinity Western University Spartans’ senior night in a dramatic 2–1 win at Chase Office Field in Langley.
After an even start, the Spartans were awarded a penalty in the 20th minute after UBC goalie Axel Lennselius was whistled for colliding with Thomas Powell. Powell converted the spotkick to give TWU the lead, which they kept into halftime.
UBC improved after the break and outshot the Spartans twelve to one in the second half. Victory Shumbusho in particular forced several saves from TWU’s Alex Cordeiro.
The T-Birds finally got their equalizer in the 87th minute off of a corner kick. Markus Pulhaj met Markus Kaiser’s cross with a brilliant glancing header that froze Cordeiro to tie the game.
TWU sent numbers forward to try and grab a late winner, but this left them open to counterattacks and UBC hit them on the break. After some nice buildup play in transition, the ball fell to substitute Nicholas Momotani who curled one into the top corner, sealing the win for UBC deep into second half stoppage time.
UBC moved up to first in the Pacific division with the win. The T-Birds have now clinched a playoff spot, and will play at home in the quarterfinals of the Canada West playoffs after securing at least a top-two seed in the Pacific. The T-Birds wrap up the regular season with a pair of home games against UBCO and Thompson Rivers, the latter of which will decide who tops the Pacific division.