MSOC: Mount Royal edges Alberta to claim Canada West bronze
November 6, 2022
VANCOUVER - The Mount Royal Cougars capped off their Canada West campaign with a bronze medal after a narrow 2-1 win over Alberta Golden Bears at Thunderbird Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
A first half goal from Dawid Dudek had put the Cougars in the lead before Garry Onyejelem's second half leveller set up an exciting finale which saw Caden Rogozinski tuck away the match winner with seven minutes remaining.
It may not have been the medal the Cougars were hoping for heading into this weekend's Final Four, but Ryan Gyaki's young side have a lot to be proud of after an unbeaten regular season and a lot to build upon heading into 2023.
"I've just told the lads, I've been involved in a lot of football and we had a lot of guys who had worked hard all year and didn't get a lot of minutes and we put them in for fresh legs after extra time yesterday," Mount Royal head coach Ryan Gyaki said after the match. "The first 20 minutes was so fun to watch. Just the joy of football.
Not the medal we wanted, but three bronzes in a row isn't the worst either. Some people play their whole career and never get a medal. Not what we wanted but we're young and healthy and that's all that matters."
Both teams came out lively in this one, with David Schaefer having the first look on goal for the Cougars five minutes in with a free kick that was well held by Chris Ezoua in the Golden Bears goal.
Alberta's first chance came four minutes later with a Janko Vong header that brought a save out of Sterling Kerr.
Mount Royal got the breakthrough in the 20th minute after good work out right ended with Schaefer playing the ball in across goal to a wide open Dudek, who made no mistake from seven yards out.
Both teams cancelled each other out for the majority of the rest of the half, but Garry Onyejelem almost found the equaliser with three minutes remaining, but couldn't quite get a clean connection on a David Chung cross and Kerr made the stop on his goal line.
Neither side could really get their attacks going to start a second half peppered by free kicks.
The game needed a moment of magic to liven it up and it came in the 72nd minute when Jake Bosch sent a brilliant defence piercing pass through for Onyejelem to run on to and he buried it with aplomb to get Alberta back on level terms.
That set up an exciting end to the match, with both teams pushing hard for the winner to avoid the lottery of penalties.
As the corner count racked up, the decisive goal was to come in the second phase of one for Mount Royal.
Alberta were unable to clear the danger in the six yard box and Rogozinski was on hand to fire the loose ball home. It was his first goal of the season and what a time to get it.
It was a heartbreaking result for Alberta, but there was still a lot of positives that the Golden Bears can take from their season for the future.
"I thought we put forth a good effort today," said Golden Bears head coach Martin Fenger-Andersen. "I'm really proud, they came out and battled today. We played a good Mount Royal team that ended up on top, obviously, but I feel most proud for our senior players who played their last game for us and came in and made an impact on the game. It's not the way we want to send them off with a loss but they did themselves proud."
As Mount Royal celebrated their bronze medals, their coach was quick to pay tribute to what has been a fantastic weekend of Final Four soccer and a great showcase for the conference and everyone involved with the teams.
"I think the most important part when you come to events like this, I'm so proud of all these teams, the men's and women's that were here this weekend," Gyaki said. "They're student athletes, they're getting degrees, and they're going to go and be better people later and help society get better. That for me is the biggest part. It was a great competition and the love of the game was great to see."
A first half goal from Dawid Dudek had put the Cougars in the lead before Garry Onyejelem's second half leveller set up an exciting finale which saw Caden Rogozinski tuck away the match winner with seven minutes remaining.
It may not have been the medal the Cougars were hoping for heading into this weekend's Final Four, but Ryan Gyaki's young side have a lot to be proud of after an unbeaten regular season and a lot to build upon heading into 2023.
"I've just told the lads, I've been involved in a lot of football and we had a lot of guys who had worked hard all year and didn't get a lot of minutes and we put them in for fresh legs after extra time yesterday," Mount Royal head coach Ryan Gyaki said after the match. "The first 20 minutes was so fun to watch. Just the joy of football.
Not the medal we wanted, but three bronzes in a row isn't the worst either. Some people play their whole career and never get a medal. Not what we wanted but we're young and healthy and that's all that matters."
Both teams came out lively in this one, with David Schaefer having the first look on goal for the Cougars five minutes in with a free kick that was well held by Chris Ezoua in the Golden Bears goal.
Alberta's first chance came four minutes later with a Janko Vong header that brought a save out of Sterling Kerr.
Mount Royal got the breakthrough in the 20th minute after good work out right ended with Schaefer playing the ball in across goal to a wide open Dudek, who made no mistake from seven yards out.
Both teams cancelled each other out for the majority of the rest of the half, but Garry Onyejelem almost found the equaliser with three minutes remaining, but couldn't quite get a clean connection on a David Chung cross and Kerr made the stop on his goal line.
Neither side could really get their attacks going to start a second half peppered by free kicks.
The game needed a moment of magic to liven it up and it came in the 72nd minute when Jake Bosch sent a brilliant defence piercing pass through for Onyejelem to run on to and he buried it with aplomb to get Alberta back on level terms.
That set up an exciting end to the match, with both teams pushing hard for the winner to avoid the lottery of penalties.
As the corner count racked up, the decisive goal was to come in the second phase of one for Mount Royal.
Alberta were unable to clear the danger in the six yard box and Rogozinski was on hand to fire the loose ball home. It was his first goal of the season and what a time to get it.
It was a heartbreaking result for Alberta, but there was still a lot of positives that the Golden Bears can take from their season for the future.
"I thought we put forth a good effort today," said Golden Bears head coach Martin Fenger-Andersen. "I'm really proud, they came out and battled today. We played a good Mount Royal team that ended up on top, obviously, but I feel most proud for our senior players who played their last game for us and came in and made an impact on the game. It's not the way we want to send them off with a loss but they did themselves proud."
As Mount Royal celebrated their bronze medals, their coach was quick to pay tribute to what has been a fantastic weekend of Final Four soccer and a great showcase for the conference and everyone involved with the teams.
"I think the most important part when you come to events like this, I'm so proud of all these teams, the men's and women's that were here this weekend," Gyaki said. "They're student athletes, they're getting degrees, and they're going to go and be better people later and help society get better. That for me is the biggest part. It was a great competition and the love of the game was great to see."