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UPDATE – TRU WolfPack beat UBC Thunderbirds to win 2022 men’s soccer nationals

Victor Kaisar and Jon Keen
Nov 13, 2022 | 5:05 PM


UPDATE - TRU WolfPack beat UBC Thunderbirds to win 2022 men's soccer nationals

The TRU WolfPack celebrate after winning the 2022 U SPORTS men's soccer nationals at Hillside Stadium. (Photo via TRU WolfPack)

The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men’s soccer team are U Sports champions for the first time in their history.

They beat the UBC Thunderbirds 2-1 after a shootout in front of a raucous crowd of over 2,400 that poured into Hillside Stadium for the all B.C. final on Sunday afternoon.

It was the third straight WolfPack game to go to a shootout, with Kamloops native Domenico Comita scoring what was the eventual winner in the seventh round.

“I didn’t even know I was going to play this game, I found out an hour before [the game] after an injury to our captain [Jan Pirretas],” he said. “I was in the stands for the semi-final leading the cheers on the megaphone if you can believe it.”

“I knew I had to do it for the team, for my family, my brother, this City. I just rifled it in the bottom right corner, just as I imagined. Just ecstatic it went in.”

Comita’s brother, Alesandro, opened the scoring in the eleventh minute of extra time though an equalizer from UBC captain, Daniel Kaiser, 14 minutes later momentarily silenced the Kamloops crowd.

“It was pretty surreal to score that goal, my first for the Wolfpack, and not going to lie… it was a bit painful to see them tie it late,” he said. “Thankfully, Domenico, all that penalty work in the backyard. We have been doing it our whole lives. So thankful for that.”

Elijah Dos Santos, Mikkel Rosenlund, Alesandro Comita, Josh Banton, Jonathan Rinaldi, and Domenico Comita all scored in the shootout. Patrick Izett – the WolfPack’s shootout hero in the last two games – sent what would have been his third straight game-winning penalty high above the crossbar.

WolfPack goalkeeper Jackson Gardner dove to his right to save Connor Mrazek’s penalty, setting the stage for Domenico’s winner, a shot he tucked into the bottom right corner past a diving Peter Whyte in the UBC goal.

“[It’s] just not sinking in right now to be honest. We wanted to build this program to where we are right now” WolfPack Head Coach, John Antulov, said post-game, before being mobbed by Josh Banton

“We did it,” Banton could be heard saying, while hugging his head coach.

The WolfPack were reduced to ten men in the 69th minute after Marco Favaro picked up his second yellow card for a foul, leaving his team shorthanded for the final 51 minutes of regulation and extra time.

“The guys never put their head down, they just battled and fought. They looked at each other and said let’s be resilient,” Antulov said.

“For us to defend the way we did one man down against a team that scores the way they do just shows unbelievable character.”

This is the second national soccer medal won by the WolfPack men’s soccer team, improving on the bronze they won in 2017 when TRU last hosted nationals.

“I’m glad that we can be the standard-bearer and bring this title home because it shows that you can get it done at a small school,” Antulov added.

“I’ve believed that since day one when I took over, that just because you’re at a small school doesn’t mean you can’t get it done.”

TRU needed penalty kicks to beat the OUA Champions, McMaster Marauders, 2-1 in quarterfinal action on Thursday night. They also beat the top-seeded Cape Breton Capers 3-2 in similar fashion in Friday’s semi-final, handing the AUS champions their only loss of the season in the process.

Earlier in the day Sunday, the Montreal Carabiens beat Cape Breton 3-0 to win the bronze medal.

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