VICTORIA - Freshman forward #Cam Hundal# showed why he is one of the country's top rookies, throwing in some razzle-dazzle to score the game-winning goal in the 75th minute as the University of Victoria Vikes men's soccer team upset the No. 1 nationally ranked UBC Thunderbirds 1-0 at Centennial Stadium on Sunday.

BOX SCORE  /  VIDEO RE-CAP

With the win, UVic pushed their unbeaten streak to eight as the team defeated two CIS-ranked teams this weekend. On Saturday, the Vikes dropped the nationally No. 8 ranked Trinity Western Spartans, and followed with a strong performance to defeat the previously undefeated Thunderbirds on Sunday.

Hundal (Surrey, B.C.) showed some fancy footwork, taking a pass from #David Adams# (Surrey, B.C.), switching from his left to his right foot to elude a Thunderbirds defender and score to secure the Vikes the win and sole possession of second place in the Canada West with a 6-2-2 record. UVic is now one point behind UBC (6-1-3). The Thunderbirds defeated UVIc 4-0 in the season opener in Vancouver in September.

"Right from the beginning of the season, we talked about how important it was to win at home and set up a fortress here," said Hundal ."Beating UBC and Trinity Western, these were big wins for us against two of our big rivals. We outworked them today and our fitness paid off."

Hundal's goal was a pay-off for his hard work throughout the game.

"At the half I talked with our centre midfielders and told them I leek to get the ball to my feet… and they delivered," Hundal said. "I got the ball on my left foot and switched to my right and had 10 feet of space ahead of me."

The Vikes will next host both Calgary and Lethbridge on Oct. 22 and Oct. 23 at 2:15 p.m. at Centennial Stadium.

"Cam's a quality player and a very skillful member of our team," said an elated Vikes men's soccer head coach, #Bruce Wilson#, following the game. "He will be an all-star in this league in the future and maybe even this year. Three years ago I saw him at a high school tournament and we've been hard after him ever since."

The Vikes and Thunderbirds played a defensively sound first half with few chances at either end. A couple of controversial plays - including a #Joel Gomez# (Surrey, B.C.) arm-tackle on Gagandeep Dosanjh (Abbotsford, B.C.) that could have been a yellow card and a pull down of Vikes midfielder #Doug Joyce# (Victoria) in the penalty area - were the highlight of an otherwise lacklustre opening half with both teams playing conservatively in the scoreless opening 45 minutes. UVIc controlled the bulk of the play, but the Thunderbirds were able to create several opportunities with long balls up the wing area but not generate any decent shots.

In the second half, teams exchanged several chances early but the strong play of Vikes netminder #Daniel Kilpatrick# (Victoria) in anticipating the ball and punching it out several times helped the Vikes to keep in control. He made five saves for the win while UBC's freshman goalkeeper Luke O'Shea (Richmond, B.C.) had the loss for UBC making six stops.

The Thunderbirds poured the pressure on in the final 10 minutes but Kilpatrick and some strong play from the Vikes overall team defence helped them to preserve the victory.

UBC's Navid Mashinchi (Port Moody, B.C.) had the best chance to tie the game but hit the post off a direct free kick in the 84th minute and the Vikes defence cleared the ball out of harm's way.

"Now we need to take care of results with home games against Calgary and Lethbridge and then a difficult road trip to close out the season against Saskatchewan and Alberta," Wilson said. "But we're absolutely where we hoped to be at this point. We knew the Trinity Western and UBC games back to back would be important and we got six points… I'm very pleased with our progress."

Hundal echos his coaches comments.

"We want to win the Canada West… we want to finish on top," Hundal said. "We need to try to get 12 points and keep looking to improve."