QUEBEC CITY (CIS) – The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds added to their record tally with a 1-0 win over the Cape Breton Capers in the gold-medal final of the 43rd CIS men's soccer championship, Sunday afternoon at TELUS-Université Laval Stadium.
MS: T-Birds v. CBU (Nov. 11, 2012) Gallery
It marked a 12th Sam Davidson Memorial Trophy triumph for the Thunderbirds, eight more than any other program. UBC dominated throughout the tournament, outscoring their opponents 8-0 in total, including a 4-0 quarter-final victory over New Brunswick on Thursday and a 3-0 shutout of host Laval in Friday's semis. The Thunderbirds are the first team in four years to shutout every team it faced at the CIS championship.
The T-Birds end the season without a single loss in conference play (11-0-3), the Canada West playoffs (2-0) and at nationals (3-0). It is the team's first undefeated, national championship-winning season since 1994, the year of Mosher's first CIS title.
Despite the loss, the AUS champion Capers still managed to achieve the school's best-ever result at the CIS tourney. Cape Breton had captured bronze a year ago.
Steve Johnson, a fourth-year striker from Tsawwassen, B.C., scored the lone goal of the final in the eighth minute and was named game MVP for the winners. Teammate Gagandeep Dosanjh, the Canada West player of the year from Abbotsford, B.C., was voted championship MVP after scoring a tournament four goals, including two against UNB and two more versus Laval.
After the game, UBC head coach
Mike Mosher talked about his squad's undefeated season. “Two good teams today, it's a shame somebody had to lose. I'm really proud of my boys and the way they battled today and throughout this tournament. History was made today, as we were undefeated this season. It's a real pleasure to work with this group,” Mosher said.
On the losing side, Capers coach Robbie Chiasson had nothing but praise for the Birds. “I tip my hat to UBC, they have a very good team, very skilled, very composed. We did our best, but it just wasn't good enough today. Well done to them.”
“I'm just so proud of our guys to get to this point. Taking a small school like ours to a whole new level, our first-ever national championship final, is great for our program. We just keep climbing, bronze last year, silver this year. Who knows, maybe one of those years we'll get to a gold medal,” Chiasson added.
As was the case in each of their championship games, the T-Birds opened the score early. In the eighth minute,
Marco Visintin took a free kick from the wing 35 yards away from the net. Johnson skilfully deflected the ball over goalkeeper Andrew Murphy to make it 1-0.
Although they were unable to add to their lead, the first half was all UBC. The Canada West champions buzzed around Cape Breton's goal for most of the half, including a chance by
Reynold Stewart, who forced CBU's keeper to make a nice save after a brilliant header in the 19th minute.
The Capers only directed one shot – wide – towards the Birds' net in the first 45 minutes.
Defensive play dominated in the second frame, as fatigue seemed to seize both teams. The T-Birds still dominated time of possession, leaving absolutely no chance to the Capers for a comeback.
The only threat from the AUS champions came at the 82-minute mark. Murphy cleared his territory and his powerful kick crossed the entire field to reach teammate Paul Martin, whose header was controlled by goalkeeper
Luke O'Shea and the menace was killed.
UBC only had to kill the remaining minutes to confirm the win and its 12th national title.
The University of New Brunswick will host the 2013 CIS championship in Fredericton.
SCORING SUMMARY
UBC: 1-0:1
CBU: 0-0:0
First half
UBC
Steve Johnson (2) (
Marco Visintin), 8th
Second half
(no scoring)
Goalkeepers:
UBC:
Luke O'Shea (W, 0 GA, 1 save, 90:00, 3-0)
CBU: Andrew Murphy (L, 1 GA, 5 saves, 90:00, 2-1)
Team stats
Shots: UBC 13, CBU 2
Shots on net: UBC 9, CBU 1
Corners: UBC 11, CBU 0
Offsides: UBC 2, CBU 2
Fouls: UBC 8, CBU 14
Yellow cards: UBC (none), CBU (Nicholas Petrina, Wyatt Scheller, Shayne Hollis)
Red cards: UBC (none), CBU (none)
Players of the game:
UBC:
Steve Johnson
CBU: Andrew Murphy
CHAMPIONSHIP AWARDS
Tournament MVP:
Gagandeep Dosanjh – UBC
Tournament All-Stars:
Goalkeeper:
Luke O'Shea – UBC
Defence:
Steve Johnson – UBC
Defence: Nafi Dicko-Raynauld – Laval
Defence:
Paul Clerc – UBC
Midfield: Milieu de terrain: Guillaume Surot – UQTR
Midfield: Andrew Rigby – CBU
Midfield:
Reynold Stewart – UBC
Midfield: Jason Massie – CBU
Midfield:
Brandon Bonifacio – UBC
Forward: Ian Greedy – CBU
Forward: Gagandeep Dosanjh – UBC
R.W. Pugh Fair Play award:
Alberta Golden Bears
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE
Thursday, Nov. 8
11:00 Quarter-final 1: Cape Breton 1 Carleton 0 (4-3 kicks)
13:30 Quarter-final 2: UQTR 2 Alberta 1
16:00 Quarter-final 3: UBC 4 UNB 0
18:30 Quarter-final 4: Laval 1 McMaster 0
Friday, Nov. 9
11:00 Consolation 1: Carleton 2 Alberta 1
13:30 Consolation 2: McMaster 2 UNB 1
16:00 Semifinal 1: Cape Breton 2 UQTR 0
18:30 Semifinal 2: UBC 3 Laval 0
Saturday, Nov. 10
11:00 Fifth-place game: McMaster 1 Carleton 0
Sunday, Nov. 11
11:30 Bronze medal: UQTR 1 Laval 0
14:00 Championship final: UBC 1 Cape Breton 0
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, 11,000 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 54 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:
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