Women’s Soccer: Zacharuk, Dhaliwal ignite the offence in Cascades’ 3-0 win at TRU
It took a while for the University of the Fraser Valley women’s soccer team to find traction against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack on Sunday afternoon in Kamloops, but a pair of fourth-year veterans helped the Cascades turn the tide.
Brittney Zacharuk and Gurneet Dhaliwal took turns assisting on each other’s goals late in the first half, and Zacharuk added her second goal of the match in the 75th minute. Goalkeeper Joven Sandhu made seven saves for her first career clean sheet as the Cascades leveled their record at 3-3-2, good for fifth place in the Pacific Division of Canada West. The eighth-place WolfPack fell to 1-7-0.
“We did well today playing against a much-improved TRU side – they are far more dangerous than they have been in the past,” UFV head coach Rob Giesbrecht said afterward. “We had to go with the ‘bend but not break’ mentality for a while. They got behind us quite a bit in the first half and got some set pieces, but I thought my girls did very well defending it. Towards the end of the first half we started to click offensively and maintained possession of the ball in the attacking third.
“It was nice to see Brit and Gurns combine on two goals late in the first half. We’re a young team, and we need to rely on our veterans to step up and deliver, and they did.”
The Cascades broke the ice in the 39th minute. Dhaliwal delivered a sensational through ball right into the path of an onrushing Zacharuk, and she slid the ball past TRU keeper Danielle Robertson.
Three minutes later, Zacharuk returned the favour. Taking a pass from Kelsey Mitchell on the left wing, she found Dhaliwal unmarked at the top of the six-yard box for a tap-in.
Zacharuk notched her third goal of the weekend – she also scored in Saturday’s 3-1 win at UBC Okanagan – midway through the second half. Meghan Rose sprung Jashan Sandhar down the right wing with a deft touch pass, and Sandhar eluded a TRU defender along the goal line before slipping a pass to Zacharuk, who was all alone in front for the finish.
Zacharuk was the Cascades’ player of the game, and Giesbrecht also lauded the play of Kailyn Halvorson and Harneet Dadrao. Halvorson, a sophomore defender from Vernon, B.C., had family at both weekend games in the Interior, and she played 90 minutes for the first time in her Cascades career vs. TRU. Dadrao, meanwhile, overcame illness to provide an effective presence in the midfield.
Up next for the Cascades is a home-and-home with local rival Trinity Western – next Friday on TWU’s Langley campus, and Sunday at MRC Sports Complex.
Men’s GOLF: Olson leads Cascades to blowout victory at UFV Invitational
Zach Olson and the University of the Fraser Valley men’s golf team continued their comprehensive dominance of the PACWEST conference at their home course this weekend.
The No. 1-ranked team in the nation won the 36-hole UFV Invitational, contested at Chilliwack Golf Club on Saturday and Sunday, by a whopping 22 strokes. The Cascades posted an aggregate score of 302 in blustery conditions on Saturday, and were much better on a less-windy Sunday with a score of 287. Their two-day total of 589 left them well ahead of the UBC Okanagan Heat (611) and the Douglas Royals (615).
COMPLETE MEN’S TEAM & INDIVIDUAL SCOREBOARD
Olson, a fifth-year Cascade from Strathmore, Alta., led the charge, winning the men’s individual crown by a four-stroke margin. He followed Saturday’s two-under 70 with an even-par 72 on Sunday to finish ahead of a quartet of pursuers – teammate Kyle Claggett, VIU’s Wyatt Brook, Langara’s Jacob Vanderpas, and Douglas’s Dustin Franko – who ended up at +2 for the tournament.
It was the sixth straight PACWEST tourney win for the UFV men’s team, a streak which stretches back to last season. They won the conference’s three regular-season events by a combined 48 strokes.
Olson celebrated his second individual victory as a Cascade – his first was three years ago, at the 2015 Kwantlen Invitational.
“It’s great to see our senior captain get a win,” UFV head coach Chris Bertram enthused. “He’s been knocking on the door for the past couple years since his last win . . . and it was really great to see the effort and watch him go toe-to-toe with a really strong player (Brook) down the stretch and come out on top. Really solid effort, and I’m really happy for him.
“It was a tough weekend out here,” Bertram added. “We played in some pretty windy, blustery conditions yesterday, and it was really wet and soggy out here today. But we played well enough yesterday, and then played really nicely today to get the win. I’m proud of the effort of all five of our players, and it’s nice to get another win on home turf.”
UFV’s Daniel Campbell (+3) tied for sixth, Cody Stewart (+10) was 12th, and Ben Whiton (+19) tied for 24th.
Up next for the Cascades is the PACWEST championship, a three-round tourney which runs Friday through Sunday at Nanaimo Golf Club.
