Regular season closes out at home for UBC Okanagan men’s soccer

The final two games are this Saturday / Sunday for the Heat as the host two top ranked teams in #9 Victoria and #2 UBC, both games at 3 p.m. respectively. Sunday, the last home game will honour graduating members of the squad.

KELOWNA, B.C – After a weekend that saw the UBC Okanagan men’s soccer team earn four points out of the possible six against Thompson Rivers, the team will be looking to continue their good form this weekend. The Heat will first play hosts to University of Victoria on Saturday (Oct 17) with the game set to begin at 3 p.m. The Heat will then be playing to the University of British Columbia on Sunday (Oct 18)  with kick off scheduled at 3 p.m. Both the games will be held at the Nonis Sports Field.

Senior Game: Sunday five graduating UBC Okanagan players will be honoured prior to the match: Logan Ellis, Jorden Leib, Brandon McCallum, Harrison Shrimpton, Donald (Manny) Straith.

Play-Off Scenario – After a rewarding weekend, the men’s soccer team now stand at 4^th place, currently enabling them to qualify for the playoffs, however UBC Okanagan finishes th eleague with their bye wekend and are one of only two teams who have currently played 10 matches. UFV is the other squad who have played 10. The side trails Victoria, who are occupying 3^rd place, by 2 points. A home win against will allow the team from Kelowna to surpass Vikes.

Players to Watch out for: Forward Enzo Paal added to his tally this weekend and now stands at 3 goals and 3 assists so far this season. Goalkeeper Christopher Cuthill has now become the leader in terms of saves made this season with an astounding 51 saves.

Key Performer : Rookie Luke Warkentin added to his tally to make it 4 goals this season. He stands at 11^th position in the leaderboards and will be looking to add to his tally this weekend.

Head to Head : UBC Okanagan VS University of Victoria  : When the two teams met this season, the Heat drew 2-2 to hosts Vikes. During last season, the first game ended 2-1 to the Vikes while the second game ended in a 1-1 tie.

Head to Head : UBC Okanagan VS UBC : When the two teams met this season, the Heat allowed a late goal to fall  2-1 to UBC. In 2014 these two sides played three times with the last in the play-offs last season when hosts Thunderbirds won 3-0. In the regular season UBC won (4-0) in Kelowna and (2-0) in Vancouver.

#9 University of Victoria: The Vikes are coming at the back of a 3-0 loss to the Thunderbirds and will be attempting to get all three points when they visit UBC Okanagan(17^th October). The Vikes have had a rewarding season so far having scored 18 goals which is the highest in their group.

Play-off Scenario – The Vikes’ men’s soccer team are standing in 3^rd position with 14 points in 8 games and are in a good position to qualify for the playoffs. They trail 2^nd placed University of Fraser Valley by 2 points and lead their opponents UBC Okanagan by 2 points.

Players to watch out for : Midfielder Dominic Colantonio has scored 2 goals and assisted 2 goals this season. Colantonio will be looking to continue his good form this Saturday.

Key Performer : Midfielder Cam Hundal has amassed a staggering 5 goals and assisted 2 goals and stands in 8^th position on the goal scorer’s leaderboard. Hundal will be a key figure if the Vikes are to successfully qualify for the playoffs.

Thompson Rivers Canada West Preview

2014-15 CW Regular Season Record: 8-1-3
2014-15 CW Playoff Record: 0-2
Last CW Title/Total CW Titles: 2009 / 16
Last CIS Title/Total CIS Titles: 2011 / 5
Number of new players: 8 // Recruits: Isaac Koch (M/1), Jasdeep Lally (GK/1), Keegan Lang (F/3), Xavier Araujo (M/1), Justin Atwal (D/1), Jyotish Khanna (F/1), Evan Stefanek (D/1), Cole Tamburri (GK/1)

Number of departing players: 7 // Losses: Alex Redpath (D/5), Rhyse Harnden (D/4), Craig Taylor (M/5), Spencer MacKinnon (M/5), Cameron Stokes (F/5), Adam Plantinga (M/5), Aaron Murphy (D/2)

Key returnees: Cam Hundal (M/5), Craig Gorman (M/5), Adam Ravenhill (D/4), Noah Pawlowski (GK/4), Sam Prette (M/4), Dominic Colantonio (M/5), Gareth Langdon (M/3)

Key Performer: Fourth-year keeper Pawlowski is undoubtedly Victoria’s anchor in the backfield. Pawlowski was the top CIS net minder last year, named a CIS First Team All-Canadian, while the Langara College transfer also brings a wide spectrum of experience and leadership.

Coach quote: “Our team’s strength is definitely our depth but also that we have a good mix of seniors and they are mostly based in midfield. We will definitely be looking to our more experienced players, in particular our captains, to leads us both on and off the field. It’s definitely their time to step up.” – Head coach Bruce Wilson

Key storyline: The University of Victoria Vikes men’s soccer team enter the 2015 Canada West and CIS season with a strong midfield line up and a few key recruits. Returning for their final seasons are fifth year midfielders and this year’s captains Cam Hundal and Craig Gorman. The duo helped Victoria capture their fifth CIS title in their rookie year, in 2011, and Hundal was named the championship tournament’s MVP.

Gorman and Hundal will look to their fellow seniors Sam Prette, Dominic Colantonio, Adam Ravenhill and Noah Pawlowski to get them back to the CIS championship, hosted this year at York University. Head Coach Bruce Wilson enters his 28th season and is confident about where the strength in this year’s team lies.

#2 University of British Columbia – Group Leaders Thunderbirds are on a streak of 7 wins in a row, have not lost a match, and will be attempting to continue their excellent form in the conference when they visit the Heat this weekend. The Thunderbirds are coming from a two wins in two games that took place on the weekend. The ‘Birds have not yielded a goal since Luke Warkentin scored in Vancouver in these teams last meeting.

Play-off Scenario – The Thunderbirds now stand at 22 points from their 8 games this season and are unbeaten this season. They lead second placed University of Fraser Valley by 6 points and are in pole position to qualify for the play-offs.

Players to watch out for – Senior forward Gagan Dosanjh has scored 3 goals and assisted 2 goals so far this season and has been a key element in the Thunderbirds’ success this season.

Key Performer : Third year player Sean Einarsson has been the outstanding player for UBC, scoring 6 goals and assisting 2 others for his side. Einarsson also stands second on the leaderboard of goal scorers this season.

Thompson Rivers Canada West Preview

2014-15 CW Regular Season Record: 9-2-1
2014-15 CW Playoff Record: 2-1
2014-15 Overall Record: 12-4-1
Last CW Title/Total CW Titles: 2013/15
Last CIS Title/Total CIS Titles: 2013/13

Number of new players: 9 // Key Recruits: Kerman Pannu (F/Surrey, B.C./Surrey United), Chad Bush (GK/Ottawa, Ont./Ottawa Fury), Justin Wallace (M/Kamloops, B.C./Thompson Rivers University)

Number of departing players: 13 // Key Losses: Paul Clerc (D/5), Luke O’Shea (G/5), Niall Cousens (F/2), Milad Mehrabi (M/4), Navid Mashinchi (M/5)

Key performer: Chris Serban, 2014 CIS Rookie of the Year

Coach Quote: “With Justin(Wallace) coming in and Gagan (Dosanjh) re-joining the team, those two can lead in the locker room, and on the field while helping our younger players along in their respective development. That duo is one of the best in the CIS in my opinion.” – UBC head coach Mike Mosher

Key storyline: UBC is trying to get back to the CIS national championship after a year’s absence. The team’s core is very different, having lost its entire goalkeeping core from last season, as well as the Canada West MVP in Navid Mashinchi, top goal scorer Milad Mehrabi and all-Canadian defender Paul Clerc.