The match was even between Thompson Rivers and UBC Okanagan for nearly an hour in Kamloops before two quick goals put the WolfPack in the driver’s seat on the Friday night Canada West men’s soccer match.
The Heat fell (4-0) to the home team as their hosts were able to score two insurance goals in the last seven minutes of the match to send UBCO to their first loss on the season.
READ MORE: Reitsma, Warkentin lead Heat to first win of the season
“The best team won. Full credit to TRU they put the ball in the back of the net. We played OK in the first half. In the second half, we came out and us having to play on Tuesday and not having this game changed affected us. We dealt with the situation. But at the end of the day, we couldn’t overcome it. When you lose 4-bagel, you don’t see much that’s positive. It is a learning process. We will see how we do on Sunday,” said head coach Dante Zanatta.
Looking for his second goal of the year Corbin Beauchemin opened the match early with a long shot that sailed well over his mark as one of the few chances the Heat had to take a crack at the TRU goal.
Taylor Piche, from nearly the same spot the Beauchemin had at the goal, drilled a worm burner that forced Alex Ram, in goal for TRU on the night, to go to his knees to secure.
UBCO had one other solid chance to score in the first but Owen Spiker didn’t get his head on the ball before Ram was able to punch it away.
âš½ï¸ | MSOC
Tough road loss for Heat men in Kamloops.
They will look to rebound on Sunday afternoon when they face TRU again but this time on their home turf at 3 PM.â–¶ï¸ https://t.co/yA56CpfSY7 pic.twitter.com/jV1te0lL1G
— UBCO Heat (@UBCOHeat) September 1, 2018
The ‘Pack, after being shutout in their first match despite outshooting their opponents, looked to be on the same path on Friday as they held the ball for much of the first half with six shots on goal and eight corners. All that action was turned aside by Heat goalie Nicholas Reitsma and the UBCO backs.
Once the WolfPack found the back of the net in the 57th minute and then again in the 65th minute, confidence soared and when UBCO tried to press late to get back into the game, TRU counter was effective, adding two late goals that eliminated any chance at a comeback.
These two will dance again on Sunday – but this time it will be on UBCO’s turf. The afternoon contest is set to start at 3 p.m. on the Nonis Field in what should be an exciting part of the campus Rez Move-in day.
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