The UNBC Timberwolves went into their last game of the regular season Sunday afternoon knowing a win or tie against the Fraser Valley Cascades would guarantee they would host a U SPORTS Canada West men’s soccer playoff game for the first time ever in Prince George.
But the Cascades, still smarting from a 3-1 loss to UNBC on Friday, exacted their revenge, taking out the T-wolves 2-0.
The loss kept UNBC from leapfrogging the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack into second place. That meant the T-wolves finished third in the Pacific Division and will play a crossover playoff Saturday in Edmonton against the University of Alberta Golden Bears.
The T-wolves played most of Sunday’s game knowing a few of their better players, including scoring sensation Michael Henman, were walking on thin ice, facing automatic suspensions for the first round of playoffs if they got served a yellow card. That kept Henman, Kayden Miner, Anthony Preston and Gregor Smith out of the starting lineup in the rematch with the Cascades.
Preston and Smith were subbed in for the final 31 minutes and Henman was called into action with less than 20 minutes left, with the T-wolves trailing 1-0. UNBC came close to tying it up when Preston hammered a shot that was saved by goalie Fraser Valley Jackson Lau in the 65th minute. Then, in the 77th minute, UNBC centre back Cody Gysbers’ blasted a shot off the crossbar, just before Fraser Valley striker Taylor Richardson iced it with his eighth goal of the season.
“We were minutes from second place,” said T-wolves head coach Steve Simonson. “UBC needed one goal against Thompson Rivers on Saturday night (it ended as a scoreless draw) and we needed one goal in our game, so we were only a goal from second place and I can’t be more proud of the guys.”
The three-point weekend gave the T-wolves a lock on third place and they finished 8-5-3, their best record since joining Canada West as an expansion team in 2012. UNBC ended up with a .562 winning percentage, to finish behind first-place UBC (9-3-3, .667) and second-place Thompson Rivers (7-3-5, .576). Fraser Valley (7-6-2, .511) finished fourth in the Pacific.
“It was a good weekend, we knew we had to get three points to get third, that was our main goal, and we wanted to push for the home playoff game but going into the last game we wanted to make sure we were at full strength going into the playoffs,” said Simonson.
“We had to take care of people that were on risky injuries and we had to protect from yellow-card suspension, and that’s always a risk going into the last game. That’s our highest win total, for sure, and our highest placement, third place. We avoided Mount Royal, which is undefeated on the other side, and that was a major goal for us.”
Henman obliterated the T-wolves’ record book, collecting his 21st point to wrap up the Canada West scoring race, nine points ahead of second-place Mohamed El Gandour of Mount Royal and 10 goals clear of second-place Victory Shimbusho of UBC. Henman’s five game-winners marked a season high in Canada West. Henman also led the league in shots on goal (34) and was third in total shots taken (53).
“He put the team first and wanted to make sure he was available for the playoffs and he was on board with trying to come in as needed and he almost got one,” said Simonson. “He came in and there was a ball over the top and he just missed his touch, and if he took a better touch he was one-on-one with the goalkeeper. We had a good flurry of chances late. All we need was a tie and we were pushing bigtime for that in the last 20 minutes.”
In Friday’s 3-1 win over the Cascades, Henman tied the Canada West record for most goals by a player on one season when he headed in Julian Daduica’s crossing pass for his league-high fifth game-winning goal, 25 minutes in.
“That was an unbelievable buildup, a great cross and a great header, and he put himself in the history books,” said Simonson. “It’s so exciting.”
Teammates Preston and Koby Greaves each collected five assists to finish tied for the Canada West lead in helpers with Jake Bosch of Alberta and Mowbray Begin of Mount Royal.
UNBC goalie Daniel Zadravec capped an outstanding regular season in which he led the league with 69 saves, posted the third-best save percentage (.775), was fifth in goals-against average (1.25) and had five shutouts (third in Canada West).
Simonson said Gysbers, a fifth-year defender, deserves Canada West all-star team consideration.
“He’s been fantastic all year defensively, the best centre back in the league that I’ve seen,” said Simonson.
In their only meeting this season, Sept. 16 in Edmonton, the T-wolves lost 4-1 to Alberta. Henman was forced to sit that game out with a one-game suspension after incurring his third yellow card of the season.
“That was a game of two halves, we gave them a goal in the first two minutes and gave the two more in the first half,” said Simonson. “They were organized and pressed us a little bit for sure, and I’m not taking anything away from Alberta. But we were really sloppy in the first half and I can’t see us conceding three goals like that ever again. In the second half, we were full value and bombarded them. The surface was tricky but we’ve been on grass lately and know what that feels like so we’re excited to get another shot at them and are looking forward to coming home and advancing.”
Alberta (5-2-7) finished second in the Prairie Division.
The T-wolves are healthy going into the playoffs.
