The University of the Fraser Valley men’s soccer team wrapped up the Canada West regular season with a 3-1 road loss to the Victoria Vikes on Saturday.
The Vikes opened the scoring in the first minute of play on a strike by Cam Hundal – Cascades head coach Alan Errington said his team “fell asleep” on the play. UFV, though, tied it up on Kree Byrne’s header in the 21st minute.
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The Cascades had their chances in the second half, but it was UVic with the only goals, courtesy Rhyse Harnden in the 65th minute and Cameron Stokes in added time.
“We played really well, actually,” Errington said afterward, lauding his team’s passing and possession. “I didn’t think we deserved to lose tonight. I was really pleased with the performance – I wasn’t too concerned we lost 3-1. If we play like that, we’ll be in good shape.”
The Cascades had several excellent scoring chances in the second half that didn’t come to fruition – Ryan Liddiard hammered a shot off the post, and Colton O’Neill had a shot cleared off the goal line by UVic keeper Noah Pawlowski.
The loss means the Cascades (6-5-1, 19 points) will have to wait until Sunday to find out their playoff opponent. They’re currently in third place in the Pacific Division, three points up on the UBC Okanagan Heat (5-5-1, 16 points), but the Heat have one game remaining against cellar-dwelling Thompson Rivers. Having beaten the Cascades twice this season, UBC-O owns the tiebreaker and would finish third with a win.
So if the Heat beat TRU on Sunday, the Cascades would end up fourth and would play the first-place UBC Thunderbirds in the Canada West quarter-finals. A tie or a loss for UBC-O would send UFV back to Victoria for a quarter-final rematch with the Vikes.
Errington said he doesn’t have a preference which team the Cascades end up facing. They’ve had good success against two-time defending national champion UBC, notching regular-season wins over the T-Birds in both 2013 and 2014.
“There’s still a confidence going into next week,” Errington said. “UBC won’t be happy to see us, and I don’t think UVic would be either.”
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