鈥� Marissa Tiel

A beautiful bluebird autumn day greeted fans and athletes for UBC Okanagan鈥檚 first-ever homecoming sports match.

The Heat鈥檚 Men鈥檚 Soccer team suited up for an afternoon tilt against the number-one ranked team in Canada, the UBC Thunderbirds.

They fell 2-0 to their fellow UBC squad in front of a raucous home crowd of 338.

While the Heat had a few scoring opportunities, it wasn鈥檛 able to capitalize and went scoreless in its penultimate home game of the season.

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The Thunderbirds got its first of the game just over 25 minutes into the first half as Victory Shumbusho found the back of the net. Riley Pang got their second of the game just after halftime, heading in a free-kick.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e good,鈥� said Heat head coach Dante Zanatta of the visiting Thunderbirds. 鈥淲e had a chance early in the game that we just didn鈥檛 finish and then we had a chance late in the game that we didn鈥檛 finish.鈥�

The home crowd lent their support, clacking noise makers on every Heat possession.

At halftime, RBC, the presenting sponsor of Homecoming and UBC Okanagan announced that RBC will be the title sponsor for the 2019 Scholarship Breakfast and will be offering two $1,000 scholarships for student-athletes this year.

The Homecoming soccer match was a first for the young university and was just one of a slate of events scheduled over the weekend.

READ MORE: Heat men kick off season at home, UBCO women in P.G.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 great,鈥� said Zanatta of Homecoming. 鈥淲e start these traditions and keep building on it. Would have been better to come out with a win or a tie today, but I think that was an entertaining game.鈥�

The Heat also faced the University of Victoria Vikes Sunday. They fell 2-0 to the visiting squad on Senior Day. Graduating players Shaun Pilcher and Bret Depner were honoured before kickoff.

edit@kelownacapnews.com
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