CALGARY - The Calgary Dinos men's soccer team pulled off a major upset Saturday, with Jeff Marsden's goal in the 28th minute standing up as the winner in a 1-0 victory over the No. 2-ranked UBC Thunderbirds.
BOX SCORE
Marsden was the beneficiary of a misplayed corner by Thunderbirds goalkeeper Zach Kalthoff that resulted in the game's lone goal.
The win moves the Dinos to 3-1-1 and vaults them ahead of the Thunderbirds in the Canada West standings.
“It's a really big win for us” exclaimed Dinos head coach Brian McDonnell. “UBC is a team that's always competing on a national stage. They are a good technical team going forward, and we knew that we were going to have to be sharp at the back end“.
UBC's scoring chances were limited in quality as they struggled to penetrate the Dinos back line. Defenders Marsden and Dustin Ruddell did a phenomenal job all afternoon of containing the speed of UBC's Gagandeep Dosanjh and Navid Mashinchi.
UBC's best opportunity to score came in the opening minutes. Tyson Keam sent a free kick from 28 yards out screaming over the Calgary wall and just inches over the crossbar and fingertips of Dinos goalkeeper #J.P. Crescenzi#.
In the 26th minute, Mashinchi sent in a dangerous free kick to the far post. Two attackers were in the vicinity, but neither could get a boot on it and the Dinos breathed a sigh of relief.
The Dinos opened the scoring two minutes later when Calgary's #Brian Delaney sent in a corner kick. Kalthoff correctly jumped to intercept it, but fumbled the ball right to Marsden who made no mistake and headed it home to give the Dinos a 1-0 lead.
Calgary used the momentum to control possession for the remainder of the half. Forward Izak Lawrence did a fantastic job holding the ball and letting the Dinos midfield gather to sustain an attack.
The Dinos opened the second half somewhat unorganized as UBC made a valiant push for the equalizer. UBC's Brandon Bonifacio twice failed to convert scoring opportunities in the early minutes, first denied by a diving Crescenzi, then firing a shot over the crossbar.
In the 53rd minute, confusion almost cost the Dinos a goal when a weak cross eluded four players and Crescenzi before glancing off the post.
The near mistake re-energized Calgary, who played solid, fundamental soccer from there to avoid giving away any further scoring chances and complete the upset.
The Dinos will look to build on their success when they face Trinity Western tomorrow afternoon at the West Varsity Soccer Pitch, while UBC will drive south to face the Lethbridge Pronghorns.
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