The UFV women's soccer team, ranked seventh in the nation to open the regular season, backed up that lofty billing with a pair of road wins on the weekend.
The Cascades notched a pair of 2-1 victories, edging the Manitoba Bisons on Saturday and the Regina Cougars on Sunday.
Chelsea Steffen's late heroics lifted UFV in the opener. With less than five minutes left in the game, Steffen's header found the net to snap a 1-1 tie. UFV's Paige Friesen and Manitoba's Paula Fast had exchanged goals earlier.
On Sunday, Danika Snook converted a Megan Webster corner kick to open the scoring 15 minutes in, but Regina equalized eight minutes later on Jayde McFee's goal. Just after halftime, Carly Neeson took advantage of a Cougars turnover and fired a rocket to the top shelf, and that goal stood up as the game-winnner.
CASCADES MEN STOP SPARTANS
The Cascades soccer men opened the season with an impressive 1-0 victory over their local rivals from Trinity Western University on Friday.
Craig Robinson's goal in the 17th minute provided the margin of victory. The Cascades striker took a long ball from Juan Pablo Mora Perea and broke in on the right side of the box. His shot deflected off a TWU defender and beat goalie Andrew Fink.
Goalie Mark Village made four saves for the shutout, as UFV beat the Spartans in Langley for the first time since joining Canada West five years ago.
On Saturday, the No. 2-ranked UBC Thunderbirds handed the Cascades a 4-2 loss. Marco Visintin capitalized on a pair of penalty kicks, while Navid Mashinchi and Abbotsford native Gagan Dosanjh also tallied for UBC. Brian Davis and Sasa Plavsic replied for the Cascades.
HOME OPENERS THIS WEEKEND
The Cascades soccer teams host their home openers at Bateman Park this weekend. The Saskatchewan Huskies visit on Saturday, and the Alberta Pandas and Golden Bears are the guests on Sunday. The women play at noon both days, followed by the men at 2:15 p.m.