KAZAN, Russia (Team Canada) – The Canadian men’s soccer team ended the Summer Universiade tournament on a winning note on Tuesday morning, defeating Malaysia 3-1 in the match for seventh place. It marks the second-best finish in history for the program in eight all-time appearances at the biennial competition.

Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/summer/2013 

Team Canada Twitter: @CDNUniversiade | #gocanada

Summer Universiade website: www.kazan2013.com/en

“It was important for us to play that seventh-place game. It’s tough to play six games in less than two weeks, but we found a way to win. The guys were serious and made the necessary efforts to stay focused,” said head coach Pat Raimondo, whose troops ended the tourney with a 2-2-2 overall record. “We’re qualified for 2015. That’s important because it gives us two years to prepare.”

Malaysia opened the scoring in the 28^th minute thanks to Saarvindran Devandrn but Canada wasted no time retaliating. Marco Visintin of Vancouver (UBC) fooled keeper Mohd Farhan Bin Abu Bakar at the 40-minute mark to send the teams to the locker room tied at 1-1.

The red and white needed only four minutes to take the lead after the break. Matt Medoruma of Lethbridge, Alb. (University of Lethbridge) scored what would stand as the game-winner in the 49^th minute.

Mario Kovacevic of Woodbridge, Ont. (Toronto) sealed the victory in the 83^e minute.

Jonathan Viscosi of Ottawa (Buffalo) was defending the Canadian cage. He stopped six shots while his teammates fired seven at the Malaysian net.

The Canadians’ best result in men’s soccer at the FISU Games was fourth in 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand. That squad was also coached by Raimondo, who heads the University of Montreal program on the CIS circuit.

BOXSCORE: Canada vs Malaysia