The York University Lions men's soccer team fell by a score of 2-1 to the UBC Thunderbirds in the consolation final at the U Sports championships in Guelph, Ont., on Saturday evening.
 
The game was a battle between the last two national champions in a contest neither expected to be in when the tournament started on Thursday. It was a tale of two halves, as the Lions dominated the first and the Thunderbirds controlled the second. The two squads finished with 10 shots apiece, with York recording seven of theirs in the first half and UBC nine in the second half.
 
The Lions had the first glorious chance of the game in the 11^th minute but the shot was cleared away before the ball could find the back of the net. However, it didn't take long for them to get on the board as three minutes later they opened the scoring on a header by defender Stefan Popovic (Richmond Hill, Ont.).
 
The Lions continued to buzz around the UBC net for much of the first half but could not get a second goal, with multiple shots going high and Thunderbirds goalkeeper Jason Roberts making four saves to keep the score at 1-0 at the break.
 
UBC made five substitutions at the half and that seemed to be the boost the Thunderbirds needed. They had two good chances in the first three minutes but York goalkeeper Daniel Gosciniak (Mississauga, Ont.) made both saves.
 
In the 60^th minute the Lions almost got their second goal of the game on a hard shot by Steve Kloutsouniotis (Markham, Ont.), but Connor Cook, who had come into the game in place of Roberts, pushed the ball wide.
 
UBC's strong play finally paid off in the 76^th minute. The Thunderbirds controlled possession inside the 18-yard box for several moments and then got the ball on the foot of Luke Griffin right in front of the net and the slid the ball pass Gosciniak to make the score 1-1.
 
Beginning in the 84^th minute the Lions had three good chances in a two-minute span. First, Malcolm Loukides (East York, Ont.) had a long run all alone up the right side and, just before going out of bounds, he crossed the ball in and forced Cook to make a save. The rebound came out front but no one was there to put it home.
 
In the 85^th minute Sergiu Anton (Brampton, Ont.) got a solid shot on net that Cook stopped, and in the 86^th minute Josh Kiselyov (Maple, Ont.) sent a cross into the box that Ryan Telfer (Mississauga, Ont.) got his head on but rang it off the crossbar.
 
Just as it looked as though the game was going to penalty kicks, the Thunderbirds scored the winner when Ryan Arthur and Popovic went after the same ball and the shot arched into the net over Gosciniak's head.
 
Eddie Lay (Courtice, Ont.) was named York's player of the match, while Kerman Pannu earned the award for UBC.
 
With the win, the Thunderbirds finished in fifth place and the Lions sixth.