Abbotsford – The UFV Cascades men’s soccer team dropped a 3-2 decision to the Langara Falcons (PACWEST) today at Abbotsford Senior in their last preseason game before leaving for California on Monday. Both teams played with an intensity beyond that of a conventional preseason match, and things only heated up on the pitch as the evening cooled down.
The Falcons controlled the opening quarter of tonight’s game, scoring an early goal in the ninth minute and hitting a post only a few minutes later. UFV’s defensive line struggled through several breakdowns against the unusually large and tall (for soccer players) Falcon offense, and it wasn’t until the middle of the first half that the Cascades began to turn the tide.
In the 26th minute UFV right-back Colton O’Neill picked up the ball on his side of half and began a diagonal rush across the field that boggled the Langara midfield. After outwitting a quartet of defenders O’Neill found space for a strike from inside the box and finished a perfect run with a perfect shot to even the score. In a game where every touch was contested, the field-spanning rush was an eccentricity, an anomaly, a beautiful play from a veteran Cascade.
UFV had no shortage of opportunities nor possession in the second half as the Cascades probed the Langara defense with short crosses and solid attacking down the left flank. First-year international recruit Harry Owen shone brightly as he pieced together play after play with fellow rookie Grant Fadden, finally managing a goal in the 79th minute. The English midfielder might have tallied earlier as well, had not the bruising tackles of the Falcons defense frequently left him battered and grounded.
“It’s a lot faster here, especially in preseason,” admitted Owen after the game. “It’s walking pace in England for preseason, but I’ll get used to it and get my fitness up…hopefully I’ll get stronger as the season goes on.”
Still, Owen and fellow Englishman Mason Thompson provided a significant boost to UFV’s quality with their entrance in the second half of the contest. Some might have called it “skill,” but coach Alan Errington, always a wizard with words, named their collective contribution as “guile”. No other term could more accurately describe Thompson’s twists and turns on the back line, nor Owen’s calculated passed through the Langara defense.
The Falcons roared back to life late in the game, hitting another post before capitalizing on a set piece (84) and a penalty shot (87). Both teams had the chances and the ability to finish, and the final result was the reflection of an exciting contest that truly could have ended in a variety of scores.
“I’m disappointed in the result, but the performance is what matters really at this stage of the game,” said Errington. “I’ve just made the comment to the players in [the locker room], ‘it’s not how you start the season, it’s how you end that matters’ … these games are designed to try players out and see how they go.”
Errington also explained that he is still conducting experiments with his back four, where off-season injuries have taken a significant toll. “However,” he said, “I thought young Tammer Byrne came in and did very well, and I thought Grant Fadden came in and did very well.” Both Byrne and Fadden are rookies proving their worth at the CIS level.
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