T-Birds turn two-goal deficit into hard-fought draw against UVic

To the incessant rhythm of children drumming, on Saturday night, the UBC men's soccer team rallied to a gruelling 2–2 draw against the UVic Vikes, completing the first of three back-to-back stretches on their regular season schedule. Despite facing yet another two-goal deficit, the 'Birds mounted an emphatic comeback, salvaging a valuable point against this season's national championship hosts.

Prior to kickoff, the T-Birds were 6–0–1, coming off a 4–1 victory the previous night against the floundering UBCO Heat.

After a 1–0 win on Friday over the Trinity Western University Spartans, UVic was 3–2–0, having competed in two less games than UBC so far.

Glancing back to 2009, the Vikes have only mustered one triumph across their perennial visits to Point Grey — and last season, they fell twice to the 'Birds within the span of three days.

"It was a show of character that we came back from 2–0 down," team captain Eric Lajeunesse said after the match. "We did start very slow, we needed to change a few things at halftime, and guys needed to switch on."

Frankly, the first half was well-nigh a circus.

UVic opted for the tightrope. The Vikes' backline — anchored by the sibling combination of Archie and Fin Tugwell — delicately walked along the line, foregoing an outright offside trap in favour of a more front-footed containment. By compressing their formation, the Vikes muffled the 'Birds' efforts to go direct-to-feet, while their high line kept them poised to cut out balls over the top.

When asked to share his thoughts on the Vikes' performance, UBC head coach Mike Mosher complimented "their structure, the way they defended, [and] the way they pressed us."

Each line of UVic's formation — some variation of a 4-5-1 or 4-4-2 — played as though they were tethered together. There was no individual guesswork; the ropes were taut, their spacing was dialed, and when the team shifted, it left no gaps for the T-Birds to leverage.

Perhaps not by choice, the 'Birds were forced into the role of the juggler. When they had the ball, they could not surpass the horde of Vikes clogging up the middle of the pitch. Without the ball, UBC got stretched out, making any attempt to apply concerted pressure more strenuous and risk-laden. The 'Birds ended up doing a lot of running for a negligible return.

Once the T-Birds recovered lost ground, regained possession, and reset to build out, they were drained and seemingly short on ideas. UBC's fatigue materialized itself in a lack of cohesion, augmented by spurts of stagnancy.

Alas, the 'Birds tossed too many balls in the air, and in the 15th minute, they all came plummeting down.

A miscued pass by Lajeunesse near the halfway line gave the Vikes an opening on the counter. With the bulk of the 'Birds' in rear view, Evan Larson dispatched a thoughtful ball down the left flank for Owen Lemmer to run onto. Lemmer's cross into the goal area was first met by goalkeeper Jack Garner, but his touch deflected to a streaking Felipe Morales Moya, who made no mistake tracking the rebound. 1–0 UVic.

After the match, Mosher described the transitional sequence that led to the Vikes' first goal as "silly." He compared the concession to one the 'Birds gave up last week against the UNBC Timberwolves. On the former occasion, Brennen Fuerst, whom Mosher referred to as a top player, "gave away a silly ball," and today, Eric made a costly mistake in possession, leaving UBC unable to recover defensively, the head coach said.

In a jiffy, UBC conceded the opening tally for the second instance in three matches — but this time around, it was not against the run of play.

Up one, the Vikes did not falter. UVic persisted in obstructing UBC's play through the middle of the park and, when the opportunity arose, stepped out from their defensive shape. Their patience in picking their moments allowed them to control the tempo of the match throughout the first half.

Put differently, the Vikes did not throw the kitchen sink at UBC. Instead, — much like a team protecting a lead — UVic managed possession by recycling the ball through the backline after regaining it.

But for all the praise the Vikes deserve for setting the tempo, the T-Birds did themselves no favours.

"I'm not sure I've seen us pass so many balls right off the field," Mosher said when describing his team's lacklustre first-half display. "When we did find the moments that we could, that we did break them, then we passed it off the field ... or we made the right decisions and the execution was poor," he added.

UBC's best look to level the match came just before the stroke of half-time, when Oliver Herbert threaded a pass to Luke Norman near the penalty area. Tapering off a turn of pace, Norman settled the ball with the outside of his right foot before shifting it onto his instep. With his sights set on the top right corner, Norman let fly a teasing curler that froze Vikes keeper Callum Weir but ultimately glanced off the top of the crossbar.

Heading into the break, the 'Birds had yet to properly test Weir. For a team that currently leads Canada West in shots per game with 17.8, UBC's lack of chance generation was egregious. Something had to give.

When the match resumed, however, both teams looked much the same.

"The second half started and it still wasn't a heck of a lot better, so that's where we started to make some changes," Mosher said.

But before UBC's substitutes could impress upon the match, the Vikes added another — and oh, what a beauty it was!

After a Vikes free kick from range was headed clear by Godbout, the ball fell to Herbert outside the penalty arc. Herbert's attempted clearance went up but not out, setting the table for UVic's Larson to audaciously obliterate the descending ball, catching it cleanly on the full volley from downtown. Garner reacted quickly, but Larson's stinger crept between his left hand and the near post.

2–0 UVic.

With a two-goal deficit and about 30 minutes left to play, panic could have easily taken over the rest of UBC's game. Instead, they dug deep, tuned out the clock, and gradually began to rediscover their jive.

Seven minutes after giving up the second, UBC engineered a turning point of their own. In the 65th minute, Godbout erupted into the penalty area, splitting two Vikes before being fouled, causing him to promptly crash down onto the turf.

While Godbout temporarily left the pitch, Max Comsia readied himself to take the penalty. Without a hop or a stutter, Comsia sent Weir the wrong way, confidently barrelling his strike into the goal before rushing in to retrieve the ball.

There was no dash to the corner flag, nor a muted high five. But with two-thirds of the match down, the 'Birds' prospects now bore promise.

Though it began with a spot kick, UBC's comeback was born out of a collective refusal to settle for second best — a facet the 'Birds have come to embody through their play this season.

"Obviously, over the season we've faced a lot of adversity," said Lajeunesse. "This was an important test to see that we can come back from a 2–0 deficit."

When play resumed, UBC picked up where they left off. The Vikes' vessel was not yet sinking, but they were surely starting to take on some water.

In the 79th minute, Lajeunesse snapped a few lines and zipped a ball into the feet of Comsia. In a single motion, Comsia created enough separation from his marker to backheel a set pass for Herbert. From outside the penalty area, Herbert side-footed the ball past Weir who, in lieu of diving, merely dropped to his knees in despair.

"[When] you're losing the game, you've got to put in guys that you can trust that can score goals — and that's what we did," Mosher said. "We got Ollie [Herbert] into the game and he helped to swing us back to the positive."

With just over 10 minutes remaining, the match suddenly took on a Golden Goal-like intensity. The playground rules were apparent: one swing of the boot could have decided the entire match.

In the 86th minute, an inswinging free kick resulted in a trifecta of headers in UVic's penalty area. Markus Rukavina bumped the ball into the mixer, where it was redirected by Godbout — but his touch sent the ball straight into the hands of Weir.

In excess of Godbout's header, however, little divided the two teams as time petered out. And after four additional minutes, the match ended on level terms.

Having commenced in poor form, the 'Birds did enough in the second half to claw their way back into the match, but the captain was quick to dismiss the idea that the tight turnaround was to blame for their sluggish start. Lajeunesse acknowledged the difficulty of the quick turnaround, but said it was simply “part of playing in U Sports.”

He also pointed out that both teams faced limited recovery time, with UVic playing the previous night and travelling from Langley. Looking ahead to their second, presumably decisive, clash with the Vikes, Lajeunesse affirmed that the 'Birds will "be ready for them."

"On our day, nobody can compete with our team," he said.

In a similar vein, Mosher said that the team is always talking about "standards and accountability — it's not about screaming and shouting." The head coach knows that the 'Birds are players with sufficient experience to detect when they are falling short of expectations. To him, that response ought to emanate from the entire team, explaining that "everybody's gotta raise their level."

When asked what he would like to see more of, Mosher called for a "real ruthless, relentless, competitive mindset that is just non-stop." He said the team has occasionally taken its foot off the pedal over the last two weekends, something it cannot afford to do against strong Canada West opponents because "they're good enough that they'll punish you."

Looking ahead, the T-Birds are set to fly out of province for the first time this season to face the 3–2–1 University of Alberta Golden Bears. In their only scheduled meeting with the Golden Bears, UBC will look to return to the win column following another hard-fought draw.

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