Men’s Soccer
Carabins defeat Capers to clinch U SPORTS bronze
KAMLOOPS (U SPORTS) – The Thompson Rivers WolfPack came up clutch in a shootout once again to capture their first national title in a 2-1 win over the UBC Thunderbirds at the 2022 U SPORTS Men’s Soccer Championship presented by RBC.
Alesandro Comita for TRU and Daniel Kaiser for UBC both scored in extra time, while Domenico Comita played hero for the WolfPack with the shootout-clinching goal.
A back-and-forth game throughout regulation shifted in UBC’s favour in the 69th minute when the WolfPack were reduced to ten men after a TRU player picked up his second yellow card.
TRU was unable to run out the 90 minutes to send the game to extra time and then took the lead against all odds with five minutes left in the first overtime frame.
Jost Hausendorf went on a great solo run and played a cross in that Alesandro Comita sent into the back of the net for the first goal of the game.
The Thunderbirds refused to go away without a fight, however and the captain Daniel Kaiser knotted the game back up with just five minutes left to play.
Thomas Gardner sent a free-kick into the box that Kaiser perfectly flicked into the back of the WolfPack net.
Needing a shootout victory at both the quarter-final and semifinal stages of the tournament, TRU took that high-pressure experience and used it to their advantage.
Goalkeeper Jackson Gardner made a pair of stops, and five members of TRU scored from the penalty spot, including Domenico Comita with the all-important winner in the seventh round of the shootout to send TRU to the historic victory.
NIKE PERFORMERS OF THE GAME
- UBC: Marcus Puhalj
- TRU: Akwasi Agyekum
SUMMARY
First Half
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Second Half
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Extra Time First Half
100’ TRU #18 Alesandro Comia (assisted by #11 Jost Hausendorf) 1-0 TRU
Extra Time Second Half
114’ UBC #2 Daniel Kaiser (assisted by #28 Thomas Gardner) 1-1
CHAMPIONSHIPS AWARDS
Championship MVP
Akwasi Agyekum, Midfielder, TRU
Championship All-Star Team
Jackson Gardner, Goalkeeper, TRU
Josh Banton, Defender, TRU
Daniel Kaiser, Defender, UBC
Elijah Dos Santos, Defender, TRU
Markus Kaiser, Midfielder, UBC
Thomas Gardner, Midfielder, UBC
Adam Benmoussa, Midfielder, Montreal
Akwasi Agyekum, Midfielder, TRU
Logan Chung, Midfielder, UBC
Thierry Cote, Striker, Montreal
Gabriel Wiethaeuper-Balbinotti, Striker, UQTR
R.W Pugh Fair Play Award
STFX X-Men