Chilliwack, BC…The University of the Fraser Valley Cascades men’s soccer team came from behind tonight to tie the defending CIS national champion University of Victoria Vikes, 2-2, at Exhibition Field, in Chilliwack, BC. The Cascades unbeaten streak now sits at five games as they improve their Canada West regular season record to 1-2-4 for 7 points. More importantly they stay in the hunt for one of the three Canada West Pacific Division post season berths. The Vikes improve to 4-3-2 for 14 points. Sunday’s rematch on the Island is shaping up to be a key regular season match for the Cascades a win at Victoria and they would trail the Vikes by four points with two games at hand.
The fans in Chilliwack tonight were treated to a very fast pace exciting match between the two post season contenders. UFV challenged the very talented Victoria defense right from the opening whistle with Sasa Plavsic, Coquitlam, BC and Craig Robinson, Chilliwack, BC testing the Vikes goalkeeper Elliot Mitrou, Victoria, BC, who made two excellent saves early on to keep the match scoreless. The Cascades were relentless tonight shooting at Victoria’s goal from all angles. They would open the scoring when a Victoria defender stole the ball from UFV’s Justin Sekhon, Abbotsford, BC and while trying to clear the ball from the Victoria box miss kicked it into his own net to give UFV the early lead. “I was very happy with our play early in the match we pressured Victoria and created some good scoring chances,” said UFV head coach Alan Errington.
The Vikes would rebound from the early goal against and mount an attack that led to the tying goal when Craig Taylor, Victoria, BC beat the Cascades goalkeeper Mark Village, Abbotsford, BC. The Vikes would continue to control the middle of the half and score a second goal three minutes later as Craig Gorman, Victoria, BC set up Gavin Barrett, Richmond, BC to give the visitors the lead at halftime.
The second half was evenly matched with the majority of the game played in midfield. There were several opportunities by both teams to score again, but both keepers kept the score at 2-1 until just like the previous two home matches, UFV turned it up a notch with under 10 minutes remaining and the referee would call an infraction in the Victoria box leading to a UFV penalty kick which Plavsic struck perfectly to beat Mitrou and tie the match at two. The Cascades would hold on for their fourth straight tie and fifth straight match without a loss.
Cam MacKinnon, Abbotsford, BC a second year defender was named UFV’s “player of the match.”
“It was a good comeback to tie the defending champs,” commented Errington. “The boys played well in the second half creating opportunities to score and overall playing good football.” “Sunday is critical for our program we have an opportunity to move closer to a playoff spot with a result in Victoria.”
UVic 2 0 = 2 (4-3-2)
UFV 1 1 = 2 (1-2-4)
Scoring:
First Half:
06:00 UFV Own Goal
20:00 UVic C Taylor
23:00 UVic G Barrett (C Gorman)
Second Half:
83:00 UFV S Plavsic (PK)
Goalkeepers:
UVic: E Mitrou 1 Save/ UFV: M Village 4 Saves
Shots on Goal:
UVic: 14/ UFV: 13
Corner Kicks:
UVic 6/UFV: 10
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