University of Victoria Vikes forward Isaac Koch is having a good weekend.
Koch scored a pivotal goal in the U Sports men’s soccer national championship quarterfinals on Thursday. He was back for more against the Saint Mary’s Huskies on Friday, scoring both regulation goals for the Vikes on the way to an eventual 3-2 win on penalty kicks.
While Victoria lost 2-1 on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals, Koch’s goal in the 55th minute nearly upset the heavily-favoured University of Montreal Carabins. The Carabins didn’t tie the game until the 80th minute, forcing extra time and a shootout.
“We let ourselves kind of mope around for about an hour and a half last night,” defender and team co-captain Evan Libke said. “We were down on our luck but it’s a quick tournament. It goes by fast. We all want to enjoy it and make sure we’re living in the moment.”
The Huskies were first on the board on Friday, using wingback Adam Dunsworth’s arching shot over the goalkeeper in the 17th minute to take a 1-0 lead. But the Vikes had most of the opportunities in the first half, eventually culminating with Koch’s first goal in the 33rd minute.
Koch, team co-captain, got his second goal seven minutes into the second half.
After Koch’s second goal, the Vikes nearly shut down Saint Mary’s. But in the 85th minute, Husky wing forward Sean Freeman netted a goal to tie the game at 2-2 and send it to penalty kicks—the fourth consecutive game at nationals to be settled after regulation time.
“I’m proud that we fought back. At 2-1 it was looking grim, but [we] put in a lot of hard work there at the end,” Huskies midfielder Sumit Malik said.
For Victoria, it may have brought back flashbacks of their penalty kicks loss against the Carabins in the quarterfinals. At the time, Koch said the shootout was a coin flip and just so happened to go against them; that was borne out with the penalty kick win against the Huskies.
Team co-captains Libke and Koch, both in their last year of eligibility, said their maturity and perspective helped keep their emotions steady after losing on Thursday.
“If we went back to the hotel and spent the last 24 hours just upset about everything, then that seeps into the team,” Koch said.
The Vikes will play in the consolation final on Saturday against the Laval Rouge et Or, while the Huskies have officially played their final soccer game of 2021.
Alex Black, a wing forward for Saint Mary’s, and Malik are both in their final season with the Huskies and saw the program grow from a last-place team to playing at nationals.
“I had some waterworks coming out and [I was] obviously a little sad that it’s the last game,” Black said. “We’ve been through the trenches, from the bottom of our table and up to nationals. It’s been a good ride.”
Malik echoed that sentiment and said the trip to nationals is a valuable experience for the younger players on the team to see how top-ranked teams carry themselves on and off the field.
“I’m happy that the boys now have a good future and hopefully they can go to nationals next year,” Malik said. “I’m happy my last game is at least at nationals.”
Featured image by Spencer Colby.
