VANCOUVER – It took 120 minutes of soccer and a penalty shoot-out but the University of Fraser Valley Cascades booked their place in Sunday's semifinal with a dramatic victory over Calgary Dinos at Thunderbird Stadium on Friday evening.
Calgary dominated the shot count but Fraser Valley put in a resolute defensive shift to keep them at bay. Cascades keeper Jackson Cowx produced a penalty save in the second half to keep his side in it, and
Hany Shafie saved an extra time penalty for the Dinos to send the match to a shootout, as both keepers shined in net in this one.
Fraser Valley went a perfect five-for-five, sparking jubilant scenes as they kept their season alive, ending Calgary's in the process.
Both teams came out strong in the first half, creating chances but unable to break the deadlock.
Calgary had the first chance of the game, with Cowx parrying away a shot from the lively
Kimia Kassanda.
UFV responded with a dangerous cross from Kevin Mailand to the back post, but with no takers.
Gianmarco Plenzik had a couple of looks on goal for the Dinos before Cowx denied
Owen Antoniuk with a near post save in the 35th minute.
Antoniuk flashed a shot wide at the start of the second half, but clear cut chances were proving hard to come by. Those that were coming were from the Dinos.
Soliman Aria fired over from a good position on the hour mark, before a
James Greco-Taylor free kick didn't miss by much.
Calgary saw the best chance to go ahead slip by when Adam Szymanski brought down Plenzik in the box at the midway point of the second half. The midfielder picked himself up to take the spot kick, but it was superbly saved by Cowx.
Cowx then produced a double save in the 79th minute to deny the Dinos once again, the second of which was an unsighted one from Antoniuk.
Calgary dominated the shot count by 20-2 over the 90 minutes, but it wasn't enough to prevent extra time.
UFV came out the stronger at the start of the first half of extra time, winning a penalty nine minutes in when Aria was adjudged to have handled in the box. Mateo Brazinha stepped up but Shafie produced a stunning acrobatic save to keep the game scoreless.
The match headed to penalties. Cowx came up with a big save on Calgary's second attempt, while UFV converted their first four. That set the scene for Anthony Vega to step up and drill home the winning spot kick, and the Cascades secured the dramatic victory.
UFV will now play the winner of the UBC-Lethbridge semifinal at Thunderbird Stadium on Sunday afternoon for a place in both next weekend's Canada West Final and at this year's U SPORTS nationals.
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