The University of the Fraser Valley women’s soccer team earned a two-game sweep during a weekend road trip through the Interior of B.C.
The Cascades opened the jaunt with a 2-0 win over the UBC-Okanagan Heat on Friday in Kelowna, and finished it with a 2-1 come-from-behind triumph over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack in Kamloops.
Defender Tristan Corneil opened the scoring on Friday in spectacular fashion in the 25th minute, firing a top-corner rocket from 45 yards out, and rookie striker Monika Levarsky rounded out the scoring with her first CIS goal in the 49th minute. Keeper Kayla Klim was called upon to make just one save en route to the shutout.
On Saturday, the WolfPack opened the scoring early in the second half, but UFV’s Megan Baird – a recent transfer from TRU – leveled the score in the 75th minute, and Levarsky notched the winner two minutes later.
“I am proud of our team for showing the character to come back and claim all three points against a well-organized TRU team,” said Cascades coach Rob Giesbrecht, whose team sits second in the Pacific Division with a 3-1 record. “We were sluggish to start and lacked urgency in our play, but I thought the second half was excellent. We were a more assertive in our attack, and even after going a goal down we kept battling and earned the comeback win.”
The UFV men, meanwhile, suffered a 2-1 loss to UBC-O to run their season-opening losing streak to three, but bounced back the next night with a 1-0 win over TRU.
Against the Heat, the Cascades fell behind 1-0, but drew even in the 79th minute when Juan Pablo Mora Perea was brought down in the penalty area and Colton O’Neill converted on the ensuing penalty kick. But UBC-O’s Enzo Paal scored at the tail end of extra time to lift the hosts to victory.
On Saturday, James Najman’s header in the 18th minute marked the Cascades’ first goal in open play this season, and it stood up as the game-winner as Arturo Ortiz posted the clean sheet.
“There were a few more chances that I would have liked to see go in, but every player contributed which was markedly different from last night,” said coach Alan Errington, whose team is tied for fourth in the Pacific Division at 1-3. “It wasn’t an easy game, but I don’t think there are easy games anymore in this league.”
• The UFV soccer teams are at home this weekend for a back-to-back set vs. the UNBC Timberwolves. Games run Friday and Saturday (women at 5 p.m. and men at 7:30 p.m.) at Panther Field at Abby Senior Secondary.