TWU women’s soccer team still unbeaten this season
The reigning CIS silver medallist Trinity Western University Spartans have taken their first step toward another productive post-season.
On Sunday in the provincial capital, goals from Rachel Hutchinson and Jenaya Robertson carried the women’s soccer team from Langley (10-0-2) to a 2-0 win over the Victoria Vikes and in the process clinched the Canada West’s Pacific Division regular-season title with two more matches remaining.
TWU will aim for an unbeaten regular season when it hosts Lethbridge on Friday and Calgary on Saturday in Langley to wrap up the regular season.
Fraser Valley (8-2-2) enters its final weekend of regular season play tied with Alberta for second place. Abbotsford’s Cascades host Calgary and then Lethbridge to wind up its conference season.
SFU (4-4-0) sits one point out of the fourth and final playoff spot with four matches remaining in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference after a 3-0 road loss Saturday to Seattle Pacific (5-2-1).
Men’s soccer
Trinity Western’s red-hot start has been replaced by a cold finish.
The Spartans completed their regular season a week ahead of the rest of the Canada West on Sunday with a second straight loss, yet still hold first place in the Pacific Division standings with 29 points (9-52).
UBC (7-1-6), idle this past weekend, sits two points behind in second with two games in hand, those matches to be played at home this coming Friday and Saturday against UBC Okanagan and Thompson Rivers.
Both of those teams, surprisingly, beat the Spartans over the weekend, with Thompson Rivers winning 2-0 Saturday, and UBC Okanagan by a 1-0 count Sunday on an 87th-minute strike from Tyler Shalansky.
The Simon Fraser Clan, ranked No. 3 in NCAA Div. 2, were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw in GNAC action Saturday atop Burnaby Mountain after Bellingham’s Western Washington Vikings (1-3-3) scored off a late penalty kick. The Clan (5-0-2), still undefeated, took a 1-0 lead early in the second half on a tally from freshman Brendan Shaw.
Hockey
The UBC Thunderbirds women’s hockey team saved its best for last this weekend at the Doug Mitchell Arena.
Unanswered goals by Mathea Fisher and Mairead Bast, the latter with 2:37 remaining, rallied the Birds (3–1-0) to a 3-2 win Saturday over the Calgary Dinos (0-3-1) and a sweep of their Canada West clash.
On Friday, Calgary took a 1-0 lead into the third period, but UBC scored four unanswered goals as Nicole Saxvik, Kathleen Cahoon, Best and Logan Boyd all found the back of the net in a 4-1 win.
Saxvik (3-5-8), who opened her team’s scoring Saturday, leads the Canada West in points after the first two weekends of the season
It’s been a tough start for the UBC men’s hockey team. Friday and Saturday in Calgary, the Birds (0-4-0) fell by identical 1-0 scores to host Calgary (2-0-0) and sit in the conference basement.