VANCOUVER, B.C. – UBC Thunderbirds midfielder Sean Einarsson collected all three goals on Oct. 9 as the CIS second-ranked T-Birds cruised to a 3-0 victory over the No. 9 Victoria Vikes at Thunderbird Stadium. After a goalless first half, Einarsson scored in the 52nd, 54th and 73rd minutes to give the Thunderbirds their seventh straight victory. UBC now owns a record of 7-0-1 while Victoria falls to 4-2-2.
[BOX SCORE]
Vikes goalkeeper Noah Pawlowski made six saves on the night while his counterpart, UBC's Chad Bush, stopped four Vikes shots on goal. Bush recorded his league-leading fifth shutout of the season, while the T-Birds finished the night with a 9-5 advantage in corner kicks and a 22-6 gap in shots towards the net.
Gagan Dosanjh, Titouan Chopin and Adriano Clemente earned the assists on the Einarsson tallies.
On the opening goal, Einarsson won a loose ball in the Victoria half, and in the same motion, bounced it to teammate Dosanjh, who delivered a great through ball back to Einarsson in the penalty area, where he fired a low shot just inside the left post.
Two minutes later, he was in the right spot in the middle of the 18-yard box to knock home a rebound that came off Victoria goalkeeper Noah Pawlowski, who had just stopped a hard deflection but couldn't keep the ball from bouncing straight to Einarsson.
He sealed the victory with his hat trick goal in the 73rd minute.
Despite the loss, Victoria's Pawlowski was strong in net, stopping several of UBC's golden scoring opportunities.
In the 34th minute, Thunderbird Milad Mehrabi made a nice run down the left side with the ball. At the touch line, he cut the ball back to Dosanjh for a one-timer but Pawlowski made a great stop to keep the game scoreless.
Pawlowski also turned aside a clear shot from Einarsson from the top of the 18-yard box in the 43rd. He did the same to Einarsson again on a break down the right wing in the 61st.
The best opportunity for Victoria came in the 56th minute, as Cam Hundal had a point blank shot from the right side of the penalty area but a charging Bush was able to block the ball out of bounds.
UBC and Victoria will both travel to the Interior next weekend for their next games.
On Oct. 17, UBC will play at Thompson Rivers in Kamloops, B.C., while Victoria will face UBC Okanagan in Kelowna. The next day, it will be UBC at UBC Okanagan and Victoria at TRU.
