Sebastian Dzikowski continued his nation-leading play with another goal as the UBC Thunderbirds stun the STFX X-Men 2-1 in the second quarterfinal matchup of the 2023 U SPORTS men's soccer championships in Sydney, N.S. on Thursday afternoon.
The 2023 U SPORTS player of the year and national goal-scoring leader got things started for the seventh-seeded Thunderbirds in the 45th minute of an otherwise uneventful first half. Thomas Pena pushed the ball past two defenders before tapping it back through multiple X-Men to find Dzikowski, who scored even with a defender draped all over him.
UBC showed off more great passing when Logan Chung found Luke Norman near the penalty spot to beat X-Men goalkeeper Samuel Diltz near post in the 52nd minute, making it 2-0 Thunderbirds.
STFX captain Lewis Dye got up high to find the back of the net with a header off of a corner kick in the 74th minute to cut their deficit to just one, but they could not complete the comeback before time ran out.
The Thunderbirds will go on to face the Montréal Carabins in the first of two semifinals tomorrow at 4 p.m. (Atlantic), while the X-Men will take on the Carleton Ravens at 11 a.m. in a consolation match.
Nike Team players of the game:
- UBC: Markus Kaiser
- STFX: Lewis Dye