In just his second ever Canada West start, UNBC goalkeeper
Logan Pierce churned out a performance to be proud of. Pierce made four high-end saves, on the road, in what ended up as a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades (2-0-0). UFV scored once late in each half, securing their second win in as many tries against UNBC (0-2-0).
1st Half:
After a three-goal, four-point effort Friday, Mateo Brazinha put some pressure on the UNBC defense early with a promising sprint down the right wing.
Koss Nystedt matched him step-for-step however, and nullified the early UFV attack.
The early scare from Brazinha aside, the ball movement, purpose and confidence for UNBC appeared much higher across the board in the early stages Sunday, and that only grew thanks to a point-blank stop from
Logan Pierce off Brazinha in the 12
th minute. Then in the 13
th off a UFV corner,
Luke Graham made a goal line header save off Adam Symanski to keep the score at 0-0.
In the 25
th minute, UNBC had their best look of the half when a perfectly placed cross found
Connor Lewis inside the Cascades penalty area. Lewis one-timed a shot on target, but goalkeeper Jackson Cowx read the play well enough to get his body in front of the shot for a save.
Late in the half, the Cascades broke through. The goal sequence began with a stellar stop from Pierce off Brazinha in close, but off the ensuing clearing effort, UFV's Kevin Mailand stole the ball back at the top of the TWolves penalty area and snuck a low shot by Pierce.
Shot attempts at half were 7-6 for UFV, and shots on target favoured the Cascades 2-1.
2nd Half:
In the 56
th minute the TWolves threatened when Lewis once again had a good look at the net off a set piece. The through ball from midfield sailed high over the UFV defender to the waiting feet of Lewis, but Cowx got just enough of the ball with his right leg.
A trio of substitutions occurred in the 73
rd minute for UNBC as
Anton Zadonsky,
Cole Gunhold and
Jacob Wedel all entered the game, looking to provide a late boost of energy for Steve Simonson's squad.
It nearly paid off in the 84
th minute when
Hagon Kim used his speed and craft to generate a good look down the right side of the pitch. Gunhold raced to the front of the front of the UFV goal, but Kim's pass was intercepted by Cowx.
One minute later, the Cascades grabbed an insurance goal when Ebi Igali used body position off the rush to knock home a right-wing feed from Brazinha.
An eventful second half continued for Igali who was denied in the very next minute by Pierce. Then, right as stoppage time had begun, Igali was ejected from the match with an immediate red card after an aggressive tackle on TWolves defender
Pipeijn van der Ende at midfield.
Despite playing the final minutes down a man, the Cascades withstood some late zone time from UNBC en route to their second victory of the weekend.
In the End:
The UFV Cascades managed 17 shot attempts to UNBC's eight on the afternoon, while the shots on target favoured the Cascades 6-2.
For UNBC goalkeeper
Logan Pierce, it was an afternoon that should hopefully produce plenty of confidence moving forward. All four of the Campbell River product's saves on Sunday were of high quality. For his efforts, he received Mr. Mike's Player of the Game honours for UNBC.
Up next for UNBC – A trip home and the start of a six-game home stand. It all begins Friday at 6:00 pm with the first of a Friday-Saturday double-header against the University of Victoria. Kick off goes at 6:00 pm.
