Kamloops, BC – The No. 7 ranked STFX X-Men lost a hard-fought, close 1-0 game in penalty kicks to the No. 6 Toronto Metropolitan Bold Friday afternoon in the U SPORTS consolation semifinal game.

After neither team scored in regulation play, the game was decided in penalty kicks that saw a shoot out go through 16 shooters - eight aside - with the Bold edging the X-Men in kicks.

X-Men all-star midfielder Kyle Cordeiro was out of the line-up due to an injury suffered in the quarterfinal game. The blue and white were also without the services of defender Ethan Larsen who was serving a one-game suspension due to a red card in yesterday's match.

The teams settled into the game early, with no big scoring threats in the opening 10 minutes of play. Bold midfielder Justin Santos almost broke in alone but X-Men keeper Samuel Diltz came out for the challenge and made the save.

Max Bodurtha was close to getting the X-Men on the board in the 19^th minute after Samuel Barrowcliffe stole a loose ball from Bold goalkeeper Ali Ghazanfari and dished off to Bodurtha, but his low shot missed wide of the TMU net.

Barrowcliffe was stopped by Ghazanfari on a point-blank shot four minutes later and Logan Rieck's follow-up shot went high of the goal as the X-Men picked up their offensive pressure midway through the half.

STFX's Carson Ripoll then had a great chance in tight in the 26^th minute but again Ghazanfari was up for the task and handled the shot on goal.

The remainder of the half played out scoreless as the 0-0 draw remained on the scoreboard at halftime.

Santos had a scoring chance for TMU in the 56^th minute off a 35-yard free kick but Diltz used all of his 6'5" frame to leap up and make the save for the X-Men.

An X-Men free kick in the 62^nd minute from Luke Green resulted in an Owen Pensom header on net but the Bold keeper easily scooped up the ball.

Both squads were in search of that breakthrough goal throughout the half with the X-Men garnering the advantage in possession and scoring chances, though not able to find the back of the net.

Cameron Shaw had a solid shot on goal from 25 yards out in the 73^rd minute for X but Ghazanfari made the save.

Diltz handled a low shot from Bold midfielder Bilal Resian in the 78^th minute as the X-Men did well to contain TMU's scoring chances.

The Bold offense charged late in the game with five minutes left to play but were unable to find the back of the X net.

In the 89^th minute, Rieck pounced on a loose ball off a turnover and almost broke Barrowcliffe in but the Bold keeper challenged and he was unable to get the final shot off.

The X-Men dominated in the final couple minutes of extra time but were unable to score as the time expired in regulation with the 0-0 scoreless draw intact.

In U SPORTS consolation play, there are no overtime periods as games are decided immediately by penalty kicks.

The teams remained deadlocked after the first five shooters aside, as each squad scored four goals and each keeper made one save. The squads then went kick for kick and after a save by Ghazanfari, the 8^th Bold shooter Tristan Marshall made no mistake and sealed the win for TMU.    

Midfielders Christian Westlaken (TMU) and Logan Rieck (STFX) were named the Nike players of the match.

Rieck commented after the game that he thought his team played hard, noting, "Obviously we needed to finish the chances we created but at the end of the day that's football. We continued to battle and battle, but with the red card yesterday, our legs were a bit sore and tired so that played a factor."

"TMU is a great team and they played well. It was a good, hard fought match. I'm proud of my teammates, they fought hard until the last minute, even through penalties and I couldn't be happier with how the team performed. Unfortunately we didn't get the right result but at the end of the day we are happy."

With the loss, the X-Men are eliminated from further tournament competition. TMU will move onto the consolation final to play for fifth place on Saturday at 1:30 pm PMT against the winner of the McMaster-UQTR game.

Championship semifinal matches see Montreal taking on UBC and Thompson Rivers playing Cape Breton later on Friday. The gold medal game will be played Sunday at 2:00 pm PMT.

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Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics

MSOC: Congratulations to @StFXAthletics Logan Rieck and @tmubold Christian Westlaken on being named @niketeamcanada players of the games.

SOCM: Félicitations à Logan Rieck des @StFXAthletics et Christian Westlaken des @tmubold d'avoir été nommé joueurs du match @niketeamcanada pic.twitter.com/22yvKPwjGu

— U SPORTS Soccer (@USPORTS_Soccer) November 11, 2022