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Roxburgh delivers on pre-game promise

TWU men’s soccer team will host Canada West quarter-final in Langley after come-from-behind victory

Consider Matthew Roxburgh a man of his word.

“Before the game, he said he was going to get two and he kept his promise to the boys,” explained Trinity Western Spartans men’s soccer coach Mike Shearon.

“He’s worked so hard to come back from his injuries and he did a great job tonight.”

With the Spartans trailing 2-1 on Saturday at TWU’s Chase Office Field — and needing a victory to secure a home playoff game — Roxburgh scored twice in just over two minutes, in the 70th and 72nd minutes to defeat the UVic Vikes 4-2.

Domenic Poletto scored for the home side in the 49th minute while Leighton Johnson added an insurance goal in stoppage time.

The Spartans fired 24 shots in the match, including eight which were on target, but they trailed 2-1 midway through the second half.

“I thought we dominated the game in terms of possession, but UVic fought hard,” Shearon said. “They were organized defensively and they were hard to break down (and) we had a few lapses in focus that allowed them in the game twice, but we fought hard to get back in it and get the victory.”

The Vikes, who would have qualified for the playoffs with a victory, received goals from Tarnvir Bhandal in the 21st minute and Michael Baart in the 63rd minute.

TWU also beat No. 6 UBC 2-1 the night before — the Spartans first victory over the Thunderbirds since 2009 (0-11-6) — to finish the Canada West regular season in second place at 8-4-4.

Joel Waterman opened the scoring for TWU in the 13th minute before Rylan Sangha equalized for UBC in the 33rd minute. Jacob Low struck for the game-winning goal early in the second half.

They will now host the Calgary Dinos (7-6-1), the third-place team in the Prairie Division on Saturday night at Chase Office Field in a one-game Canada West quarter-final. The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m.

The Spartans played the Dinos once, prevailing 1-0 in Calgary and TWU finished with a 5-1-3 home-field record.


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Trinity Western Spartans’ Matthew Roxburgh finished with two goals in his team’s 4-2 victory over the UVic Vikes on Saturday at TWU’s Chase Office Field. Scott Stewart TWU Athletics