The University of the Fraser Valley women's soccer team saw its season come to an end at the hands of the Victoria Vikes on Saturday.
Playing on a waterlogged pitch at Victoria's Centennial Stadium, the Vikes beat the Cascades 3-0 in the Canada West quarter-finals, with all three goals coming in the second half.
“Tough result in tough conditions," UFV coach Rob Giesbrecht summarized. "It was an even battle for 60 minutes, and then once they scored we had to open up and they extended their lead."
The Cascades had a great chance to open the scoring late in the first half as Danica Kump set up Carly Neeson, but Neeson's shot went off the crossbar.
The Vikes finally broke the ice in the 60th minute, as Janelle Smith tapped the ball home in a scramble off a corner kick. The Vikes would add two more goals by Jana Yates and Emma Greig.
Giesbrecht lauded the play of his fifth-year players, goalie Chantelle Biagioni and right back Donna Pinning.
"It's sad their (CIS) careers ended tonight, but I'm so proud of how they played and how our entire team battled," he said. “We have a bright future and many of our young players gained valuable experience throughout our season. Experiences like tonight will help us as we build our program."
BLOWOUT WINS NOT ENOUGH FOR UFV MEN
The UFV men's soccer team did all they could to extend their campaign, crushing the Winnipeg Wesmen 5-0 and the Mount Royal Cougars 8-0 on the final weekend of the regular season.
Unfortunately, the Cascades didn't control their own destiny. They needed to win their final two games, and have UVic lose both of theirs in order to sneak into the third and final Pacific Division playoff spot.
The Vikes, though, beat Mount Royal on Friday to snuff UFV's hopes.
The Cascades may have missed the playoffs, but their 5-5-4 record represents the first time they've finished .500 in seven seasons of Canada West play.
“I am very proud of the team," head coach Alan Errington said. "Since day one we had determination and fight in us, and they did not let us down."
UFV's Sasa Plavsic was a scoring machine on the weekend, tallying twice against Winnipeg and notching a hat trick vs. Mount Royal. Cam MacKinnon, James Najman and Juan Pablo Mora Perea added singles on Friday, while Craig Robinson (2), Justin Sekhon, Connor MacMillan and Dalibor Plavsic rounded out the scoring Saturday.
Goalies Mark Village (vs. Winnipeg) and Jacob Kubanski (vs. Mount Royal) both picked up shutouts.