The University of the Fraser Valley men’s soccer team dropped a 3-0 decision on the road to the Seattle Pacific University Falcons on Saturday afternoon in their final preseason tune-up.
The Cascades, coming off a 2-2 tie with the Simon Fraser University Clan on Thursday, spotted the host Falcons two early goals and were unable to mount a comeback.
Head coach Tom Lowndes’s side wrapped up its exhibition schedule with a 2-2-2 record. They open the Canada West regular season next weekend with a pair of games – Friday vs. the Thompson Rivers WolfPack, and Saturday vs. the UBC Okanagan Heat. Both games kick off at 8 p.m. at MRC Sports Complex, Field 4.
Rookie forward Nate Trampleasure was among the bright spots for the Cascades in a loss to Seattle Pacific on Saturday.
“Preseason is about creating an identity for how you want to play, and I think we’ve done that,” Lowndes said. “The result didn’t go our way today, but we’ll be good to go on Friday.”
The Falcons are two-time defending Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) champions, and they’re No. 2 in the NCAA Div. II conference’s preseason coaches poll this year.
Against a quality opponent, the Cascades did themselves no favours by conceding a goal off a set piece five minutes in, and allowing another shortly thereafter. Lowndes felt that on all three Seattle Pacific goals, his team made correctable errors.
“When you’re facing a very good team, it’s an uphill battle when you’re down 2-0 after 15 minutes,” he said, noting that the play rookie forward Nate Trampleasure was a bright spot for the Cascades. “We showed more fight in the second half, which was good to see, but I think Thursday night took a lot out of us and we weren’t at our best today.”
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