The UFV Cascades men’s soccer program’s dreams of reaching the Canada West podium this weekend were dashed after losses on Friday and Saturday.
The club had advanced to the final four after a big win against the Saskatchewan Huskies in the quarter-finals on Oct. 27, but the UBC Thunderbirds proved to be too much for the Cascades to handle on Friday.
Playing at their home field of Thunderbird Stadium, UBC exploded for four goals in the first 30 minutes, en route to a 7-0 win over the Cascades.
Thunderbirds players Victory Shumbusho and Zach Verhoven scored a pair of goals each in the win.
“They’re a very good team, and they were clinical tonight,” Cascades head coach Tom Lowndes stated. “It really rattled us conceding that early goal. We’d talked about being really good defensively and getting through the first 20 minutes, and that didn’t happen.”
That loss moved the Cascades to Saturday’s bronze medal game against the TRU Wolfpack, who fell 3-0 to the TWU Spartans in Friday’s other semifinal.
TRU got on the board in the 24th minutes, and that goal stood up as the game-winner as UFV fell 1-0 to finish fourth overall in the Canada West.
Despite the loss, Lowndes said he liked the way his team responded, especially after Friday’s crushing loss.
“I can’t put into words how proud I am of the boys,” he stated. “It would have been very easy for us after last night’s game to hang our heads and be down on ourselves. But our response was fantastic. As a coach, when your players respond that way, show you how much they want it and come off the field in tears, you can’t be anything but proud. I’m gutted for them, but the season as a whole was really good. I’m excited for their future.”
The game marked the final appearance on the pitch for fifth-year players Tammer Byrne, David Hicks and Alex Skrzeta.
UBC earned gold at the event, with a 2-0 win over TWU on Sunday. For more on the team, visit gocascades.ca.