BROOKE GARNER

Erica Parenteau races UBC’s leading goal scorer Janine Frazao for the ball.

The Huskies men’s soccer team were disappointed with the outcomes on the pitch while traversing British Columbia on a road trip Sept. 28 and 29.

The squad earned only one of the available six points in the standings race, but head coach Bryce Chapman feels that his team will be better overall as a result of the losses.

“Even though we dropped points this weekend we had some good performances and I think we are better than we were last week and that is positive,” Chapman said.

The Huskies opened the weekend against the University of Fraser Valley Cascades in a fast-paced, high-action game at Exhibition Field, in Chilliwack, B.C. Cascades captain Craig Robinson put Fraser Valley on the score sheet first after blasting a pass from rookie James Najman past Huskies keeper Mark Diakiw.

UFV led 1-0 at halftime.

The Huskies began capitalizing on chances in the second half. Striker Brett Levis tied the game in the 56th minute, beating Cascades goaltender Mark Village on the right side of the net. Levis sent a free kick in front of the Cascades goal 20 minutes later. The ball landed in front of midfielder Brandon Holmes who tucked the ball behind Village to give the Dogs the lead with 15 minutes left to play.

The Cascades quickly answered back though, tying the game 2-2 after rookie Dalibor Plavsic intercepted a Huskies pass and slammed it past Diakiw to close the game in a tie.

The game marks the first time the Dogs were out-shot this season. UFV tallied 12 shots while the Huskies managed only eight.

The next day the Huskies travelled to Centennial Stadium to take on the University of Victoria Vikes.

Despite numerous shots on goal and impressive plays from both sides, the teams were scoreless at the half. Victoria found their stride in the second half, however, notching two goals and handing the Huskies their first loss of the season.

The Huskies’ record sits at 5-1-1 and has them tied for top spot in the Prairie division with the Alberta Golden Bears, who are ranked number one in the country. The Dogs will battle Alberta for first-place honours during games Oct. 6 and 7 in Edmonton.

The Huskies women’s squad also found themselves on a western road trip Sept. 28 and 29. The team lost both games they played but played well against a pair of teams that have been in the CIS top 10 rankings this season.

The women took on the UBC Thunderbirds at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver in their first match of the weekend.

The scoring started in the 22nd minute when UBC took advantage of a Huskies mishap. Dogs keeper Lisa Evans intended to pass the ball to one of her defenders, but was intercepted by Thunderbirds midfielder Rachel Ramsden, who fed teammate Taryn Lim for a clear and successful shot on net.

Lim struck again before halftime. UBC forward Janine Frazao picked off another stray pass from the Dogs and kicked it toward the net. Evans stopped the original attack, but Lim was right behind to clean up the rebound and notch her second goal of the match. The Thunderbirds would tally one more to lead 3-0 at the half.

UBC scored their last goal in the 78th minute when Thunderbirds rookie striker Nicole Sydor managed to squeak the ball past Evans for the 4-0 final.

The Huskies faced the Trinity Western Spartans in their second match and were, once again, held scoreless despite battling hard in the game at Rogers Field in Langley, B.C.

Trinity Western lead 1-0 until the dying minutes when Spartans Kristen Santema and Jennifer Castillo both scored to secure a 3-0 win for their squad.

Trinity Western’s fifth-year keeper Kristen Funk made four saves and earned her sixth shutout of the season. Funk hasn’t allowed a goal in 475 consecutive minutes of play, a Trinity Western record.

The Spartans remain undefeated on the season with a spotless 7-0 record while the two losses on the weekend drops Saskatchewan’s record to 3-3.

“We knew we were going into B.C. and playing a few of the best teams in the country,” Huskies head coach Tom LaPointe said.

Despite being held off the score sheet in two games LaPointe felt the team battled hard.

“We were competitive in both games and the knowledge that we can play with the some of the best teams in the country is something positive that we can take away from the weekend.”

The Huskies women’s squad will return home to entertain the Victoria Vikes and Fraser Valley Cascades on Oct. 6 and 7, respectively.

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Photo: Hogan Wong