VANCOUVER – Victory Shumbusho scored a goal and added an assist to help lead the UBC Thunderbirds to a 2-0 victory over the Calgary Dinos in the Canada West men's soccer Final Four gold medal game Saturday night at Thunderbird Stadium.
It's a third straight Canada West Championship title for UBC and a record 20th overall for the decorated program and, along with the silver medalist Dinos, will travel to the U SPORTS Men's Soccer Championship next week in Montreal.
The T-Birds pushed the pace and possession from kickoff with repeated play in the Dinos final third. In the second minute Victory Shumbusho sent a through ball for Sean Einarsson who from 11 yards out drilled a hard shot on goal that was well saved by standout Calgary goalkeeper
Jake Ruschkowski.
The Dinos responded eight minutes later with the always dangerous
Mark Bohdan collecting a turnover past midfield and unleashing a sizzling shot from 23 yards out that was deflected before forcing UBC goalkeeper Jason Roberts to make a good stop.
The 'Birds would eventually be rewarded for their repeated foray's forward as Logan Chung took the ball with speed down the left channel into the Dinos box and was taken down just ahead of the end line for a penalty kick call. UBC leading scorer, Shumbusho would step up and make no mistake slotting it into the right corner in minute 27 to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
Just ahead of halftime UBC would increase their lead thanks to Shumbusho streaking down the right channel into the Dinos area before feeding a pass across goal that Thomas Gardner one timed into the left corner from 14 yards out and a 2-0 advantage in the 43rd minute.
Coming out of the break in minute 61, the 'Birds narrowly missed adding to their lead after a sweet through ball from Gardner to Shumbusho who put it behind Ruschkowski from 12 yards out however Dinos defender
Nahum Tsegai hurried back to make an impressive sliding goal-line clearance.
With UBC's relentless pressure Ruschkowski continued to stand tall, repeatedly coming up with diving saves off Einarsson in the 76th and 83rd minute while also stoning Sam Fletcher in minute 84 to keep the score 2-0 until the final whistle. The Calgary goalkeeper made 10 saves in the championship final.
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