CALGARY – The University of Alberta Golden Bears fought from two goals down to claim a 3-2 win against The University of Calgary Dinos men's soccer team in the Canada West semifinals on Sunday at McMahon Stadium.
Goals from Frankroy Cain in the 89
th minute and a stoppage time winner from Justin George ensured the Golden Bears advance to the CW finals.
Calgary struck twice in the first half. Defender
Jacob Hunter finished off a slick move from the Dinos, tapping home from close range from
William Omoreniye's dangerous ball into the box.
And after some more good play in the build-up,
Efe Udolu-Joshua doubled the lead by finishing off
Josral Frederick's delivery into the area.
Alberta pushed back after the break. Dinos goalkeeper
Hany Shafie was forced to make smart saves on shots from Giorgio Artunduaga and George. However, George cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 67th minute, chipping the ball over the keeper after being found by a trivela pass from Frankroy Cain.
Cain tied it 2-2 with less than a minute left in regulation, playing a neat one-two with Anson Minty before striking the ball beyond the keeper. Deep into stoppage time, the referee waved away an apparent foul on Shafie, where George was on hand to tap home for his second of the game to put his side ahead.
The Dinos made a final push to find an equaliser, with Udolu-Joshua having one more shot saved by Alberta goalkeeper Lucas Robson before the final whistle. The Golden Bears outshot the Dinos 8-4 in the second half, and George led all players with six shots, three of them on target.
Dinos head coach
Ramon Mifflin said he was heartbroken for his players. "I'm devastated for the team," he said. "Credit to Alberta, they made a good push in the second half to make it a game. At the end of the day, in this game you've got to be one goal better, and they were one goal better than us today."
Mifflin also praised the group's season. "It's been an amazing season for our boys. I'm so proud of them. They've been fantastic this year, and my heart breaks for them."
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