Box Score VANCOUVER - Despite a solid, short-handed effort in the second half by the UBC Okanagan men's soccer team, two late-game goals by the the UBC Thunderbirds would hand the Heat a 2-0 loss on Saturday night.
The first half saw a cautious start for both teams as there were no goals for either side, the same story as the opening half from Friday's showdown.
A red card for Sam McDonald in the 52nd minute of play would put UBCO at a disadvantage for the majority of the second half. However, the Heat were able to fight off the T-Birds' efforts until the later part of the second half. In the 68th minute of play, UBC's Mackenzie Cole, hailing from Victoria, B.C., would get a penalty kick goal to open up the scoring for the match.
Searching for the equalizer, the Heat's best chance came with a shot from Felix Jones in the 82nd minute of play. The second-year Arts student's shot, fed by Russell, Ontario product Aidan Tuck, would unfortunately go wide just past the net.
The Heat's hopes of evening the score would he halted when UBC's Tristan Nkoghe (Sherbrooke, Que.) would slip the ball past Reitsma in the last six minutes of regular time to put the score at 2-0 in favour of the Thunderbirds.
In net for the Heat, Nicholas Reitsma would finish the night with one save, putting his total for the weekend at four saves. Thunderbirds' keeper and Delta, B.C., product, Bennet McKay, would add one save to make a total of three saves this weekend.
The loss puts a dent in the Heat's pursuit of a playoff spot in the Canada West West division. UBCO (1-3-4) now sits six points of UBC (3-1-4) and Trinity Western for the final playoff spots in the division with just four games remaining in their schedule.
With the road portion of their schedule complete, the Heat will be back in Kelowna next weekend as they are set to battle it out with the Victoria Vikes (4-1-3), in search of crucial points as they look to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. on Friday, October 15th and Saturday, October 16th at Nonis Sports Field.
