Lucas Kirnon
1
Thompson Rivers TRU (6-6-1, 6-6-1)
1
Trinity Western TWU (5-6-3, 5-6-3)
Thompson Rivers TRU
(6-6-1, 6-6-1)
1
Final
1
Trinity Western TWU
(5-6-3, 5-6-3)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Thompson Rivers TRU 0 1 1
Trinity Western TWU 1 0 1

Game Recap: Men's Soccer | | TRU WolfPack

Poole’s penalty shot in added time secures draw for WolfPack

QUICK FIRE
  • Late game heroics from Kamloops local Noel Poole gave the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men's soccer team a very important 1-1 tie against the TWU Spartans Saturday night.
     
DIFFERENCE MAKERS
  • Scoring his first with the WolfPack, Poole tallied TRU's goal in the third minute of time added on after the regulation 90 minutes had expired. Toran Rutherford made three saves in the WolfPack net while both Kaelin Nguyen and Lucas Kirnon had two shots on net.
     
HOW IT HAPPENED
  • The WolfPack trailed 1-0 after a first half in which they generated more scoring chances than the hosts.
  • Just five minutes into the game a scramble in the WolfPack box fell to Tim Pritchard who was able to poke it into the back of the net.
  • TRU did their best to respond after going down and compiled a trio of outstanding scoring chances in the first frame.
  • First Lucas Kirnon let loose a great free-kick from just outside the 18-yard box but while his effort curled around the wall it was stopped by a diving Jakob Frank in the 13th minute. Just two minutes later Nguyen did well to corral a ball into the box and put it towards Ben Finley but his strike that was headed towards the bottom corner was again parried by Frank. Perhaps the WolfPack's best chance in the first half came in the 30th minute when James Rainbird crossed a ball to Nguyen on the edge of the 18-yard box but his strike went just wide.
  • The second half continued in much the same vein with the WolfPack doing their best to equalize and the Spartans content to sit back and defend their lead.
  • It appeared that the game was heading towards a 1-0 final score before the WolfPack struck deep into time added on. In the 93rd minute, Rainbird did well to run onto the end of a long ball into the 18-yard box where he was hauled down by a Spartans' defender.
  • With the game on the line, Poole stepped up and delivered a picture perfect strike to the bottom corner to secure a point for TRU.

NOTABLE
  • The tie was critical for a WolfPack team with postseason aspirations. Now holding a record of 6-6-1, their winning percentage of .487 has them in the fourth and final playoff spot ahead of the Spartans who are now 5-6-3 with a winning percentage of .429.
  • Next weekend the WolfPack will honour graduating student-athletes, and brothers, Alesandro and Domenico Comita.

UP NEXT
  • That battle to secure a playoff spot will come down to the very last games of the season next weekend. TRU will return to Hillside Stadium where they will first host the UBC Okanagan Heat on Friday, Oct. 23 and then these very same Spartans on Saturday, Oct. 24. Both those games get underway at 7:30 p.m.
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