Women’s Soccer: Kashima’s goal lifts Spartans past Cascades 3-2
Abbotsford – (with files from Scott Stewart, TWU Athletics) – The Trinity Western Spartans and University of the Fraser Valley Cascades went toe-to-toe in a Thanksgiving Sunday barnburner, with the Spartans clawing out a 3-2 victory at MRC Sports Complex.
Seina Kashima’s goal in the 64th minute stood up as the game-winner, and Elizabeth Hicks and Kathleen Chin also scored as the U SPORTS No. 3-ranked Spartans improved to 9-1-0.
Gurneet Dhaliwal and Marianne Spring replied for the Cascades (3-5-2), and reigning Canada West women’s athlete of the week Brittney Zacharuk notched two assists.
“It was different than Friday – it was more of a complete effort today,” UFV head coach Rob Giesbrecht said, alluding to the Cascades’ 3-1 loss to the Spartans on Friday in Langley. “I thought we wilted in the second half on Friday, and today I thought we defended quite a bit in the second half, but we were positive, we still worked hard, and we limited their opportunities. And we scored a goal and could have had another one. It’s tough, but I’m proud of them.”
The hosts got off to a flying start, opening the scoring in the fifth minute. Brittney Zacharuk sent a cross in from the left wing, and Gurneet Dhaliwal went airborne for a sensational left-footed finish from close range.
The Spartans drew even in the 29th, as Elizabeth Hicks rose to head home Seina Kashima’s corner kick.
A tough break for the Cascades led to a go-ahead goal for TWU in the 56th. UFV defender Taylor Nekic slipped on the wet turf in the box and slid into the Spartans’ Kathleen Chin. The referee pointed to the penalty spot, and Chin stepped up and sent her shot into the right side of the net.
The Cascades answered right back, leveling the score in the 59th. Zacharuk sent a corner in, and Cascades third-year centre back Marianne Spring soared for an emphatic header. It was Spring’s first career Canada West goal.
Kashima, though, restored the Spartans’ advantage in the 64th. UFV keeper Joven Sandhu came up with an outstanding initial stop on a close-range effort by Kashima, and the ball deflected out to the right wing. TWU’s Amy Gartke was there to send a cross back into the box for Kashima to finish. The fifth-year midfielder now leads Canada West in both assists (9) and points (16) and is tied for second in goals (7).
The Cascades had a couple good looks to tie the game once again. Spring nearly reprised her earlier goal, connecting on a header off a corner, but the Spartans cleared the ball off the goal line. Later on, Harneet Dadrao had a free kick from just outside the box, from the left, but her shot went just over the bar.
The Cascades are back in action next weekend at home, hosting the Mount Royal Cougars on Friday and the Alberta Pandas on Saturday.
Men’s Soccer – Cascades’ comeback comes up short, Spartans prevail 3-2
A highly intense, relentlessly physical local derby went the Trinity Western Spartans’ way on Sunday afternoon, as they fended off a furious rally by the UFV Cascades to win 3-2.
The Spartans built a 3-0 lead at MRC Sports Complex on goals by Austin Kasian, Cody Fransen and Domenic Poletto, but the Cascades battled back on the strength of Gurmaan Jhaj’s Canada West-leading 11th and 12th goals of the season.
TWU repelled a series of Cascades chances in the dying minutes to improve to 7-1-4, good for second in the Pacific Division. Third-place UFV is 6-4-1.
The two teams combined for nine yellow cards – five for the Cascades, four for the Spartans – as the local rivalry continued to simmer.
“It was an intense game – it’s what we expected, we knew it was going to be like that,” UFV head coach Tom Lowndes said afterward. “I thought our decision-making cost us tonight. We made some bad decisions with the ball in the defensive middle-third, and they’ve punished us. The goals they’ve scored have come from mistakes by us, and we have to be better if we’re going to get to where we want to be.
“I’m proud of the effort and the fight-back towards the end . . . but we didn’t help ourselves tonight, that’s for sure.”
The Cascades, seeking to avenge Friday’s 2-1 loss to the Spartans in Langley, had a great look in the 36th minute to open the scoring. Jhaj’s free kick took a deflection on its way into the box and required a diving save by TWU keeper Sebastian Colyn. The Cascades had two more cracks in the ensuing scramble, but both were blocked by Spartans defenders.
The visitors broke the ice in added time just before the halftime break. Poletto’s free kick from just outside the box took a sharp turn off the body of teammate Kasian and eluded UFV keeper David Hicks.
The Spartans made it 2-0 in the 60th minute, as Aidan Moore came down the right wing and sent a pass to Fransen in the middle of the box. He took a touch, spun, and sent a shot into the bottom corner past Hicks.
Poletto further expanded the TWU lead in the 67th, taking a pass from Jacob Low, getting around a Cascades defender, and firing a rising shot inside the far post.
UFV defender Tyler Henderson came off the bench in the 79th minute to help the hosts turn the tide. Shortly after entering, he drew a foul in the box on a long throw-in by Atle Koellmel, yielding a penalty kick for Jhaj to slot home.
The Cascades drew to within a goal in the 86th, on a scramble off another Koellmel throw-in. Tammer Byrne flicked the ball on, Henderson tried a bicycle kick that hit the crossbar, Andrew Peat had a sliding attempt from point-blank range that was stopped by Colyn, and finally, Jhaj rose to head the ball in.
Jhaj’s 12 goals give him a two-goal cushion in the Canada West goal-scoring race, and he’s tied with Alberta’s Easton Ongaro for the conference lead in points with 14.
The Cascades had some late looks – among them a volley by Henderson that went just over the bar – but were unable to find the equalizer.
“You’ve got to play for 90 minutes, and I don’t think we did,” Lowndes analyzed. “We didn’t play with our heads tonight. We played more with our hearts, which is good at times, but . . . you have to have both. You have to have your heads screwed on properly, and you’ve got to have emotion and be passionate.
“I thought tonight, we let our emotions get the better of us sometimes, myself included. I think we need to be better, we need to be smarter. A lot of the times when we’ve played at home this year, we have been smart, and we’ve been a lot better than teams because of the way we’ve played and how smart we’ve been. We weren’t that tonight. We were sloppy, we were careless, and we handed a lot of things to them tonight.”
The UFV side hits the road this coming weekend to face the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday and the Victoria Vikes on Saturday.
Men’s Golf – Cascades claim conference crown, Campbell and Claggett finish one-two overall
The University of the Fraser Valley men’s golf team turned in a dominant performance at the PACWEST championships in Nanaimo, winning the team title and earning two individual medals.
The Cascades claimed the conference crown for the second year in a row and seventh occasion overall, posting a cumulative score of 889 over three rounds at Nanaimo Golf Club. That left them 18 strokes clear of the runner-up Camosun Chargers (907), while the UBC Okanagan Heat (923) took third.
COMPLETE MEN’S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Leading the way for the UFV squad were Daniel Campbell and Kyle Claggett, who finished one-two in the men’s individual race. Campbell won the PACWEST individual title for the second straight season – the Bellingham, Wash. product built a massive five-stroke lead after firing a 68 on Friday, and he followed with rounds of 69 on Saturday and 77 on Sunday to finish at two under par for the week.
Campbell’s closest pursuer was none other than teammate Claggett – the sophomore from Mission, B.C. carded rounds of 75, 69 and 74 to finish at +2. Wyatt Brook (+6) of the Vancouver Island University Mariners took the bronze, outlasting Dustin Franko of the Douglas Royals in a playoff for the final podium position.
Cody Stewart (+12, T-8th) and Zach Olson (+14, T-10th) both notched top-10 finishes for the Cascades, and Ben Whiton (+18, 18th) came through with a solid final round to help the UFV squad sew up the title.
Up next for the Cascades is the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) national championships, which run next week, Oct. 15-19 in Medicine Hat, Alta. No. 1-ranked UFV will be looking for its second consecutive CCAA title, and third overall.
