In November of 2022, Domenico Comita was informed that he was one spot short from making the national roster for the hosting TRU Wolfpack. In devastation, Domenico Had mixed feelings about cheering the boys on. He felt the urge to push the boys and cheer them on but the feeling of not getting into the roster had him second guessing that urge to cheer. In the first match, Domenico watched quietly from the stands as his other teammates who were didn’t make the roster cheered loudly from the stands. As Domenico sat in his thoughts watching the match he realized that he needed to cheer the boys on. If he couldn’t do his part on the field, he had to do what he could off the field. Domenico And a teammate of his, Steffen Masaites, started the chant “Oh TRU Wolfpack” and had over a dozen other people join them in the crowd. TRU came out with a win that game and moved onto the semi-finals. As soon as Domenico got home he printed out 500 chants sheets with customized TRU wolfpack chants for the fans the next game with smoke bombs and a megaphone. With the efforts of Domenico and Steffen, the atmosphere in the second game was electric. This helped the boys on the field to find the fire to push through and fight all the way to a penalty shootout where the Patrick Izett scored the winner to advance the wolfpack.
At 11am the day of the final, Domenico received a call from head coach John Antulov saying, “be ready to go” (D.Comita, Personal Communication, October 14, 2025). Prior to that message in the semi-final starting centre back and captain Jan Pirretas, suffered an injury which ruled him out for the final. To take his place, Domenico was brought into the squad. While being on the roster Domenico still did not expect to play as he knew he would be on the bench. In the 60thminute the wolfpack received a crucial red card, and with the game tied 0-0 the dreams started to slowly fade. Late in the second half right back Mikkel Rosenlund suffered an injury, forcing him to come off. His replacement was a young Domenico who never expected to be in this scenario. As he came on, he vividly recalls looking at the crown where he was just a couple days before and then dialing into the game. In the 107’ minute of extra time, Jost Hausendorf made a phenomenal coast to coast run along the left wing crossing it into the feet of Alessandro Comita to put the TRU Wolfpack up by one with a man down. UBC did not let this Championship slip so easily and scored six minutes later in the 113’ of extra time to send the game into a penalty shootout. As the boys lined up at half watching each shot Domenico’s expectations of not shooting a penalty slowing dissolved as the first five shooters of each team had gone and it was going into sudden death. In the 6th penalty of the game Jonny Rinaldi had a world of pressure on his shoulders as if he missed UBC would be crowned national champions. But with great composure Jonny slotted his penalty into the corner to keep the dreams alive. UBC’s seventh shooter missed, the next shooter to step up was Domenico. Before he stepped to the spot his brother Alessandro reminded him “just like In the backyard” (D.Comita, Personal Communication, October 14, 2025) a reference to them playing as kids. Domenico with over 2500 people watching, walked to the spot thinking he has a chance to crown TRU as national champions for the first time in history. Domenic took a deep breath as he stood 12 yards from national championship. He stepped up and scored. From sitting in the crowd to taking the game winning penalty.
Bibliography
University of British Columbia Communications. (2022, November 13). ‘Birds earn silver at the 2022 U SPORTS men’s soccer national championship after a thrilling final with TRU. UBC Thunderbirds. https://gothunderbirds.ca/news/2022/11/13/-birds-earn-silver-at-the-2022-u-sports-mens-soccer-national-championship-after-a-thrilling-final-with-tru.aspx
TRU Newsroom. (2022, November 14). WolfPack Men’s Soccer team takes U SPORTS gold. Inside TRU. https://inside.tru.ca/2022/11/14/wolfpack-mens-soccer-team-takes-u-sports-gold/
(D.Comita, Personal Communication, October 14, 2025).
TRU Athletics. (2022, November 10). WolfPack head to national semifinal after shootout victory. Go WolfPack. https://gowolfpack.ca/news/2022/11/10/mens-soccer-wolfpack-head-to-national-semifinal-after-shootout-victory.aspx
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