CALGARY – The University of Alberta Golden Bears men's soccer team struck twice in the first half and held on for a 2-0 win over the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades in Canada West quarter-final action Friday afternoon at McMahon Stadium. 

The Golden Bears will play again in the Canada West semi-final on Sunday against the Calgary Dinos. The winner will advance to the Canada West Final, and earn a spot in the U SPORTS Championship in Victoria. 

Alberta wasted little time with Caden Ruby opening the scoring in the ninth minute, rising to head home a Prince Amanda corner kick.
 Nine minutes later he turned provider, setting up Anson Minty, who flicked the ball over Cascades goalkeeper Matheus De Souza to make it 2-0 in the 18th minute.   

Fraser Valley nearly answered between the two goals when Mateo Brazinha rattled the post in the 15th minute. 

"The game is obviously made up of moments," said Cascades head coach Tom Lowndes. "A bad set-piece goal that we conceded and then a
 scrappy second one that's not really like us, and then we're up against it. I thought we played OK. I thought we created some chances."  

The second half was tighter and more physical, with the Cascades holding a slight 5-4 edge in shots as they pushed to get back into
 the game. Their best look came in the final ten minutes, when Brazinha let fly from distance, but Golden Bears goalkeeper Lucas Robson made a fingertip save to send it behind for a corner. 

"The best feeling is keeping a clean sheet. We haven't been able to do that for a while," Ruby said. "Getting ahead early and then
 being able to hold them off. UFV is a really good team, so it was great."

Lowndes praised his team's effort to the final whistle.

"I'm proud of my guys. We battled to the end, we kept going," he said. "We've been really good all season and one game doesn't define
 this group."

The result ends a landmark season for the Fraser Valley. The team achieved the program's first top 10 national ranking, and its best
 regular-season points total, with just three losses in 16 regular-season games. 

"Obviously, it hurts right now," he said. "But when we look back, I think we'll be proud of what we achieved this season." 

The game was also the last for Cascades seniors Brazinha, Kevin Mailand, Michael Beecroft and Bhagvir Sidhu. 

Alberta carries a run of strong first halves into its next match.

"Oh, 100 per cent," Ruby said when asked about the momentum. "We've gone up 2-0 at half the last couple games, so when we're scoring
 and holding the other team to zero goals, it feels like we can beat anybody."