LANGLEY, B.C. – The No. 10 ranked Spartans men's soccer team battled hard all the way to the end against the visiting Calgary Dinos, ultimately losing 1-0 after a late goal in Canada West quarter-final action on Saturday at Chase Office Field.
Mark Bohdan's goal for the Dinos in the 88th minute was the difference in the match, as Calgary will now move on to play Mount Royal University next Saturday (Nov. 2) in the Canada West semifinal at UBC in Vancouver.
It was Calgary's first win over TWU since 2006 and broke a streak of Spartans playoff wins that has frustrated the Dinos over the past decade. In the sixth postseason meeting between the program in the last eight years and the fifth in as many seasons, the Dinos finally broke through.
The match began with chances tilted in Calgary's favour, as the Dinos forced Spartans goalkeeper Colyn to be busy, taking eight shots with four going on net.
Their best chance came in the 33rd minute, as
Derek Brust had his header saved in close by Colyn to keep it a scoreless tie.
Despite Calgary holding a 8-2 advantage in total shots, the Dinos and Spartans were held scoreless after 45 minutes.
Into the second half TWU looked like an entirely different team, controlling play and managing all kinds of shots on
Jake Ruschkowski.
A substitution of Jackson Thomson seemed to kickstart their chances, with Thomson managing three shots on goal over the final 45 minutes.
The Spartans nearly had their first goal of the game after Pedro Paz Duarte's bicycle kick attempt in the box at the 81st minute was narrowly saved by goalkeeper Ruschkowski.
In a game that seemed destined for extra time, it was Calgary's Bohdan who played hero in the 88th minute.
Bohdan willed his way to the Spartans box before spinning and shooting to the left of Colyn, beating the Spartans keeper and ultimately breaking the once scoreless tie.
Despite a last push by the Spartans in the final few minutes, Calgary would hold on to defeat TWU at Chase Office Field.
TWU's Colyn made all four of his saves in the first half, while nine of Calgary goalkeeper Ruschkowski's 10 saves came in the second half of play.
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