On Saturday night at Hillside Stadium in Kamloops, the UNBC Timberwolves men's soccer team capped off a perfect weekend road trip by capturing a thrilling 1-0 victory over the host TRU WolfPack. Hagon Kim was the hero of the evening, burying a spectacular late free kick and putting forth a solid defensive effort to earn Mr. Mikes Player of the Game honours.

The Timberwolves came out of the gate flying, immediately forcing a turnover to establish the pace and take control. Mehdi Bounaaja coming off a dominant two-goal performance the night before tested the TRU defense early. He fired a shot that was blocked in the fourth minute before immediately following up with a strike that forced a save from WolfPack goalkeeper Toran Rutherford.

The match quickly turned physical. After a pair of early UNBC yellow cards, TRU was awarded a penalty kick in the 13th minute. However, the Timberwolves caught a massive break when Amir Ghasemi pulled his shot wide, keeping the game scoreless. UNBC went back on the attack near the half-hour mark, with Luke Graham ripping a shot just wide and Kaiden Young forcing another save from Rutherford in the 35th minute. At the other end of the pitch, UNBC goalkeeper Callum Cuthbert came up huge just before halftime, leaping to deny a dangerous shot on target from Kaelin Nguyen to preserve the 0-0 tie heading into the break.

The grinding, back-and-forth battle continued into the second half. Cuthbert stayed sharp, turning aside another attempt by Nguyen in the 49th minute. The Timberwolves answered back as Adam Korduner fired a shot on target that was saved, and Young narrowly missed high on a great look. Defensively, Kim was an absolute force, repeatedly clearing the ball out of the penalty area and shutting down TRU's attacking lanes to ensure the WolfPack couldn't capitalize on a second-half corner kick.

As the clock ticked down, the Timberwolves began to tilt the field. Pipeijn van der Ende tested Rutherford in the 79th minute, and the UNBC pressure started to overwhelm the TRU defense. Luis Hirsch locked down the UNBC penalty box to stifle any TRU counter-attacks, giving the Timberwolves the freedom to unleash a relentless offensive wave in the final ten minutes. After a flurry of chances including blocked shots and near-misses from Charlie Beauvais, Kim, van der Ende, and Young the Timberwolves finally broke the deadlock in dramatic fashion.

In the 89th minute, UNBC earned a crucial free kick. Kim stepped up and delivered a moment of pure magic, firing an incredible shot that beat Rutherford to give the Timberwolves a 1-0 lead.

TRU pushed frantically for an equalizer through three minutes of stoppage time, but the UNBC backline slammed the door shut to secure the clean sheet and their second victory.

The Timberwolves will look to keep their winning streak alive when they travel to Vancouver Island to take on the Victoria Vikes next Friday, October 16. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:15 PM.