A tough weekend on their home turf pushed the University of the Fraser Valley women's soccer team to the brink of elimination in the playoff race.
The Cascades suffered a crushing 4-0 defeat to the Regina Cougars on Saturday, then needed a late goal from Megan Webster to salvage a 1-1 draw with the Manitoba Bisons on Sunday.
"Our lack of ability to put the ball in the back of the net continues to plague us," noted head coach Rob Giesbrecht, whose team out-shot the Bisons 17-3. "While I was pleased with almost every aspect of today's performance, it’s a very tough result to take."
The Cascades finish off a regular season with a home-and-home set with the UVic Vikes, who hold down the fourth and final Canada West playoff spot at 5-4-3 for 18 points.
The Cascades, at 3-6-3 for 12 points, could catch the Vikes if they win both, but they'd need a ton of help from other teams to also leapfrog the Saskatchewan Huskies (5-3-2, 17 pts) and the Calgary Dinos (4-3-3, 15 pts). Both Saskatchewan and Calgary have two games in hand on UFV.
In men's soccer action, the Cascades lost 3-1 to UBC on Saturday and 2-1 to Trinity Western on Sunday to fall to 1-8-1 on the season.
UFV's Sasa Plavsic gave his team a 1-0 lead at the half on Saturday, but the T-Birds rallied with a trio of second-half tallies. On Sunday, Jordan Tipton's goal had the Cascades level with the Spartans at 1-1, but TWU's Shawn Parkas scored the game-winner with five minutes left.
“We played well today and gave a good effort, we just fell short,” Cascades coach Alan Errington said.
• The UFV soccer women host UVic at 12 p.m. at Bateman Park on Saturday. The men host the Letbridge Pronghorns on Saturday, and the Calgary Dinos on Sunday. Both games begin at 2:15 p.m.