Canada West/CIS
Men’s Soccer
The University of the Fraser Valley Cascades men’s soccer team finished the 2011 campaign tied for seventh place with the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns, at 1-11-2 for 5 points in Canada West. The Cascades started off the regular season in style shutting out their arch rivals from Langley, BC, Trinity Western University Spartans, 1-0, on opening night. The Cascades offense only produced 13 goals in 14 matches and that hurt the team’s chances of moving up the in the conference standings.
Sasa Plavsic, Coquitlam, BC led the team in scoring with six goals and two assists. The third year Kinesiology major was named “player of the game” three times in 2011. The other outstanding performance came from rookie defender Colton O’Neill, Abbotsford, BC who was nominated for Canada West “Rookie of the Year” and named “player of the game” four times during the regular season. “Colton played well all season and gave a good effort in every match,” said Alan Errington UFV Cascades Head Coach.
Women’s Soccer
The UFV Cascades women’s soccer team started the 2011 campaign the way they ended the 2010 season, traveling to Ottawa and Montreal for a nine-day exhibition trip, UFV defeated the University of Ottawa Gee Gees, 2-0, tied the University of Montreal Carabins, 1-1 and defeated the McGill University Martlets, 2-1, all teams that would participate in 2011 CIS national championship tournament. The Cascades kick-off the 2011 campaign ranked as high as 6th in Canada. After a very successful first weekend in the Prairies, UFV would not win another match in September and then with “key” injuries in mid-season, the opportunity to repeat as conference champions fell as UFV finished in seventh place with a 3-8-3 record for 12 points.
“Coming off a very successful 2010 season we knew that repeating that level of success in 2011 would be a challenge. In many ways I feel that our team improved and took a positive step this season; however, we simply were unable to get the results we needed to reach our goals and we finished 7th,” said UFV Head Coach Rob Giesbrecht.
Megan Webster, a fifth year midfielder, from Abbotsford, BC led the Cascades in scoring with five goals and two assists. Along with Webster, the Cascades say goodbye to two other top performers during their UFV careers, forward Ellen Kuyer, Surrey, BC and defender Emma Broadfoot, Abbotsford, BC.
Men’s Basketball
The UFV Cascades men’s basketball team has been the most consistent CIS team, in Abbotsford, this season. Nationally Ranked since day one, UFV currently sits ninth in the CIS top ten polls at the break. Sporting a 5-3 record, good for second place in the Western Division of Canada West, UFV looks to continue to impress its opponents in the winter semester. The return of two veteran players from injured reserve, Jasper Moedt, Abbotsford, BC and Kyle Grewal, Surrey, BC have made a difference and add to the mix an excellent recruiting class by heads coach Barnaby Craddock, and the fans at UFV have a lot to look forward to in the new year.
The Cascades are led by Joel Friesen, Abbotsford, BC with 15.8 points per game average. Sam Freeman, Coquitlam, BC is averaging just under 15 points, at 14.8. The top rebounder is Grewal with 8 boards per night.
Women’s Basketball
The UFV Cascades women’s basketball team continues to impress their CIS opponents, each week they take another step towards being ranked in the CIS top ten polls. The Cascades are 5-3, good for a three way tie for first place in the Western Division of Canada West. Led by the team’s fifth year senior guard Tessa Klassen, Winnipeg, Manitoba and trio very talented third year players Nicole Wierks, Chilliwack, BC, Aieisha Luyken, Mission, BC and Courtney Bartel, Chilliwack, BC the Cascades will be giving their fans a lot to cheer for in the new year.
“The season to date has been marked with inconsistent play. Some great moments scattered with moments, where we really didn’t not play to our potential. Moving into the second half we’re confident that we can play at a higher more consistent level. We have an extremely challenging schedule through January right into the play-offs. We’re excited to see where we truly stack up,” said UFV head coach Al Tuchscherer.
Nicole Wierks leads the team with 13.2 points per game average. Klassen is second with 11.9 points per game. The most consistent performance comes from second year forward, Sarah Wierks, Chilliwack, BC, the member of the 2010-11 CIS All Canadian Rookie team, averages 10 points per game and 9.5 total rebounds per contest.
PACWEST/CCAA
Men’s Golf
The UFV Cascades men’s golf team continued their success in the fall of 2011. The young rebuilt team earned the 2011 PACWEST silver medal, finishing second just four strokes behind conference champion Camosun College, with a team score of 2,359 for the four tournament events. UFV would go on to capture the CCAA national bronze medal, in Charlottetown, PEI, coming from behind after day one to pass several schools and finish third, with a two day total of 613 points. It marks the fourth time in five years UFV has won a CCAA national golf medal.
“We went into this season with six new faces on a roster of eight, so needless to say there was a good deal of uncertainty. We knew living up to the standard we have set in recent years was not going to be easy, but this group of players came together right out of the gate, and put together some tremendous results. We are excited to get back at it in 2012,” said UFV head coach Chris Bertram.
The team was led by All-Canadian Aaron Pauls, a third year Kinesiology major, from Chilliwack, BC who finished the two-day national championship tournament with a score of 149, good for fourth overall and a spot on the All-Canadian team. Pauls was consistent all regular and post season finishing in seventh place overall in PACWEST with a 587 score, for the conference’s four tournaments.
Women’s Volleyball
The UFV Cascades women’s volleyball team are taking the CCAA by storm, sporting a PACWEST best 10-2 record and nationally ranked fourth overall in the CCAA, the veteran Cascades volleyball team look to continue their first place run in the new year. The Cascades are led by their veteran captain, Brittany Stewart, Walnut Grove, BC, and Kayla Bruce, a fourth year middle blocker from Surrey, BC. both Stewart and Bruce were 2010-11 PACWEST all-stars. The top rookie performer has been Krista Hogewoning, Delta, BC who has been named Abbotsford Heat/UFV Cascades “Athlete of the Week” twice and PACWEST female volleyball “Athlete of the Week” once so far this season.
In addition, Bruce was named the PACWEST/CCAA female volleyball player of the month for December, 2011.
“We have had a strong first half and look forward to the challenge of staying on top of the PACWEST standings in the winter months,” said UFV head coach Dennis Bokenfohr.
Men’s Volleyball
The UFV Cascades men’s volleyball team are currently 6-8 in the PACWEST conference, good for fourth place and a solid hold on a post season berth. The team has played five hundred ball splitting almost every weekend’s two-match series. With ten regular season conference matches remaining the Cascades look to see if they can move up in the standings before late February’s post season tournament.
“We have played well on certain nights,” said UFV head coach Greg Russell. “I would like to see more consistent play in the new year.”
The team’s top performers are Dillon Collett, Cloverdale, BC and Jason Boroevich, Burnaby, BC both have been named Abbotsford Heat/UFV Cascades “athletes of the Week.”
(Non-Conference)
Men’s & Women’s Rowing
The UFV Cascades rowing program is an independent team with affiliation with Rowing Canada. The team’s highlight each fall is the annual Canadian University Rowing Championships (CURC) held this past October in Welland, Ontario, by the University of Western Ontario Mustangs. There were 24 CIS and CCAA schools participating in 18 different events over the weekend.
For the Cascades, the men’s eight’s was the highlight of the day. The team sat in 12th position after Saturday’s trails and led by their coxswain (Kelly McLeod, Mission, BC), the Cascades poured on the pressure and the team responded. Rowing with a strong surge, they were able to pass two boats (University of Calgary/Royal Military College), to place them 3rd overall, with 2nd place (McGill University) just 5 seconds ahead of them.
“We placed 10th across Canada overall, and we are hopeful that these developing athletes will be able to post some great results in this upcoming spring season, ultimately leading up to an even better performance at the 2012 University Championship being held at Burnaby Lake next November,” said UFV head coach Liz Chisholm.
Event Highlights
The fall at UFV on the Abbotsford campus was alive with special projects all semester. The Cascades hosted a Tailgate Party in September as they hosted Steve Nash’s alma mater the University of California at Santa Clara, in an exhibition men’s basketball game. To the delight of the Cascade supporters UFV played well taking their NCAA opponents to double overtime before falling 87-84. UFV also hosted the inaugural Honda Way men’s basketball tournament, in October, and finished with the silver medal falling to Seattle’s Northwest University, 86-81 in the championship game.
UFV looks forward to hosting the inaugural men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre, on January 28th, 2012 against their arch rivals the Trinity Western University Spartans. The basketball games will be played in the City of Abbotsford ice hockey arena, the home of the NHL’s Calgary Flames AHL affiliate the Abbotsford Heat.
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