VICTORIA – The University of Victoria Vikes suffered a lapse in the opening six minutes of play that cost them a 2-1 loss to the UBC Thunderbirds on Sept. 21 at Centennial Stadium. The battle of the Pacific Division went to the Thunderbirds who advance 5-1-0 in the Canada West standings, while the Vikes drop 4-2-0.
 
BOX SCORE  /  LIVE STREAM & STATS
 
UBC's Paul Clerc stunned the Vikes with two header goals in opening minutes of play in a physical game that saw the T-Birds give up 19 fouls relative to UVic's 18. First-year keeper Ante Boskovic had a steady game making four saves in the match including a penalty kick opportunity for the Vikes.
 
For the Vikes, Gavin Barrett scored his second goal of the weekend on a header in added time to break the shut out. The Vikes struggled to capitalize all game despite edging the Thunderbirds 9-5 in corner kicks and 16-7 in shots.
 
"We were dead asleep in the first five minutes of the game - two nil," said Vikes head coach Bruce Wilson. "We did not react very well but in the second half we played very well and won that half. One thing for sure we know we can play against UBC and I guess it will come down to playoffs."

Six-foot-one striker Clerc capitalized on two identical plays in the opening six minutes of play to give the Thunderbirds an early lead against the Vikes. A 40-yard free kick from the right side of the pitch by Reynold Stewart found the head of Clerc without interruption to startle the Vikes in the third minute, while an identical set play from Navid Mashinchi gave Clerc his second goal in the sixth minute.
 
The Vikes regrouped and were in the other end in the ninth minute when Sam Prette put in all the hard work on the right side of the pitch to cross the ball for Craig Taylor who just missed the final touch at the far post. Only five minutes later and a Dominic Colantonio corner kick went off two Vikes heads and trickled just past the far post to keep the Vikes off the board.
 
The home side had their best opportunity when a long clear found the isolated feet of Vikes midfielder Cam Hundal. T-Birds keeper Ante Boskovic was forced out and his foul on Hundal awarded the Vikes a penalty kick. Boskovic's foul was warranted as he made a diving save to his left on Hundal's attempt to keep the Birds at 2-0 entering the break.
 
Following the first half, the Vikes out-shot the Thunderbirds 7-4 and edged the visitors 5-4 in corner kicks earned.
 
In the second half both teams traded opportunities with attacking play favouring the home team slightly. Solid defence work anchored by second-year Bryan Fong made clean up easy for Boskovic, while Niall Cousens combined well with Mashinchi and Harry Lakhan in the other end of the pitch.
 
Physical play continued to escalade as several cautions continued to be awarded throughout the second half.  The T-Birds tested Vikes keeper Elliot Mitrou in the 67^th minute as Mashinchi was sprung off a counter attack. Mashinchi was in tight with Mitrou who made the diving save to his left.
 
In added time, Barrett broke the shutout as he overlapped from the backfield to get his head on a long-range cross from the right side of the field by Craig Gorman. Barrett's goal was too little, too late as just after the final whistle went to end the game 2-1 in favour of the T-Birds.

"The secret to a good team is you have to have depth," added Wilson who has steady performances from second-half substitutes like Kurt Macaulay and Bobby Eng. "You have to have 18-20 players you can count on. When we bring them on we are stronger. People are tired and sometimes for whole games we will switch people up. Overall, we are pretty happy with our group."
 
Up next Vikes will play a home-and-home series with their travel partner, the Fraser Valley Cascades first in Abbotsford on Oct. 4 at 7:15 p.m. and then again at Centennial Stadium on Oct. 6 at 2:00 p.m. The Thunderbirds will go to work next weekend, Sept. 28-29, on the road visiting Alberta and Saskatchewan. Games will be streamed live at http://canadawest.tv
 
SCORING SUMMARY
UBC:           2 – 0 : 2
UVIC:          0 – 1 : 1
 
GOAL SCORERS
UBC: Paul Clerc (3', 6')
UVIC: Gavin Barrett (90')