KAMLOOPS – Make it three wins in three games for the Thompson Rivers WolfPack men's soccer team as they continued their perfect start to the season with a 1-0 victory over the UFV Cascades Friday night.
 
A goal from Ryan Lewis, his third marker of the year, right before the halftime whistle was the difference on the night. At the other end of the field Jackson Gardner made three saves to record his third consecutive shutout, tying Claye Harsany's program record set back in 2016-17.
 
"This road trip has always been a tough road trip for us and tonight was obviously a battle, it was pretty tight defensively," said WolfPack head coach John Antulov. "I thought in the first half we created a lot of scoring chances and just couldn't finish, but I thought we had good tempo and controlled a lot of that first half and part of the second half before just holding on a bit for the last 10 minutes. The guys persevered and battled and got the win."
 
TRU took control of the game early, firing 10 shots on net to the Cascades four in the opening frame. Patrick Izett nearly opened the scoring just 10 minutes into the game but his long-range left footed effort clanged off the crossbar and out.
 
The WolfPack kept up the pressure however and finally found the breakthrough effort with just moments remaining in the first half. Mikkel Rosenlund went on a run down the left wing and his cross bounced off the foot of a Cascades defender and into the path of Lewis who made no mistake to slot the ball into the back of the net.
 
"That's what Ryan can do, just cause a lot of problems for backlines and goalkeepers," said Antulov. "The great thing about Ryan is his movement and the way he battles defensively, he just works and works."
 
The WolfPack were able to keep the Cascade attack under wraps throughout the second half, and despite a few desperation chances from the home team late, TRU held on for the victory. With the shutout, TRU has now gone 270 consecutive minutes to start the season without conceding a goal.
 
"It wasn't just the backline today, this was full team defensive effort," said Antulov. "Mikkel Rosenlund and Alesandro Comita were fantastic at wingback, our central midfielders Marco Favaro and Marques Scott were great, it was honestly the whole team – the backline was obviously fantastic – but definitely this one was a team effort today."
 
The WolfPack will stay in the Lower Mainland and get set to take on the Trinity Western Spartans tomorrow night. Always a tough opponent, the Spartans will enter the match with a record of 2-0-1.
 
"This was a tough battle tonight and I know Trinity will have had a tough battle with UBCO so it's just going to come down to who is going to persevere the most and make the least amount of mistakes," said Antulov. "If we can limit those mistakes then hopefully we are getting something out of the game."