Arthur’s first goal a memorable one
SOCCER: Thunderbirds clinched first place in the Canada West Pacific Division as the whistle blew Friday
The playoffs have arrived and the UBC Thunderbirds men's soccer team is once again looking up to the task.
Forward Ryan Arthur's first-ever U Sports (the new name for Canadian Interuniversity Sport) goal, an 18-yard strike coming just seconds before the full-time whistle, carried UBC (9-1-6) to a 1-0 win Friday over Kelowna's visiting UBC Okanagan Heat.
UBC followed with a 2-1 win over the visiting Thompson Rivers Wolf-Pack of Kamloops on Saturday, but Friday's victory was the one that clinched first place in the Canada West's Pacific Division.
“I looked up and it was like slow motion,” explained Arthur who joined the UBC program this season after formerly playing for the now-defunct soccer program at Surrey's Kwantlen Polytechnic.
“It just glided into the top of the net. Everyone just swarmed me and then the whistle blew.”
Arthur and Lucas Reis scored in Saturday's regular-season finale.
In NCAA D2 play, the No. 4-ranked Simon Fraser Clan remained unbeaten on the season (11-0-2 overall, 6-0-2 GNAC), topping St. Martin's 5-0 on Saturday atop Burnaby Mountain. Magnus Kristensen opened the scoring, while Mamadi Camara and Adam Jones each scored twice. The Clan has four more regular-season games remaining, beginning with a home contest Thursday (7 p.m.) against Montana State Billings.
In Canada West women's soccer, Langley's No. 2-ranked Trinity Western Spartans completed an undefeated regular-season campaign, winning the Pacific Division at 11-0-3.
In a pair of home contests, the Spartans beat Lethbridge 2-0 on Friday behind goals from Isabella Di Trocchio and Danae Derksen, then drew 1-1 with No. 5 Calgary on Saturday, getting its only goal from Stephanie Chin.
In NCAA D2 women's action, SFU (6-4-0) sits tied for third in the GNAC, getting a goal from Emma Pringle in the 29th minute to win 1-0 at Western Oregon.
Cross-country
SFU finished second to Alaska Anchorage in both the men's and women's divisions at the GNAC cross country championships held Saturday in Bellingham.
On the men's side, the Clan got five top-20 finishes, led by Braeden Charlton in sixth and Sean Miller in ninth.
The SFU women were led by the third-place finish of Rebecca Bassett. Julia Howley (seventh), Miryam Bassett (11th) and Addy Townsend (13th) and Reta Dobie (24th) rounded out the Clan's top five.
Women’s hockey
Logan Boyd scored her second of two goals 11 seconds into the second OT on Saturday in Edmonton, giving No. 2 UBC (5-1-0) a 3-2 win over the host and No. 8 Alberta Pandas, and a sweep of its Canada West weekend series. Boyd also counted the winner in the ‘Birds 2-0 win Friday.
Field hockey
UBC (6-0-2) completed an undefeated Canada West season Sunday with a 3-0 home-field win over the Calgary Dinos (0-8-0). ‘Birds defender Rachel Donohoe was named the Canada West's Player of the Year while teammate Gabrielle Switzer was the conference's top keeper. Stephanie Norlander, Sarah Keglowitsch and Hannah Haughn joined Donohoe on the conference all-star team.
Football
The SFU Clan held the offence of NCAA D-2's No. 17-ranked Azusa Pacific Cougars (6-0) to no points over the first half Saturday at Swangard Stadium.
The Azusa defence, however, turned four turnovers into touchdowns, including three off pick-six plays to lead 28-0 at intermission en route to a 57-0 win over Simon Fraser (0-5).