It will be a sweet Thanksgiving weekend for the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men's soccer team.
The WolfPack swept the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves in a pair of Canada West matches at Hillside Stadium after winning on Saturday afternoon, 3-0.
TRU improves their record to 2-7-1 while the Timberwolves finish the campaign at 3-9.
"I think confidence does wonders," said WolfPack head coach John Antulov. "You could see how much yesterday's 1-0 win helped them. We had a little bit of a lapse in the first half but we got our second wind in the second half. Our defending was fantastic. When we get guys like Oriol Torres (fourth year, forward, Barcelona, Spain) scoring a couple of goals, it's great. Hopefully we can continue it going forward."
The WolfPack opened the scoring in the 18th minute. It was Torres — a 2013 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association All-Canadian – taking a penalty kick inside the 18-yard box. Timberwolves keeper Ty Venhola (third year, Abbotsford, BC) got a hand on it but WolfPack rookie Cole Hooper (midfielder, Kamloops, BC) was there to finish the rebound for his first Canada West goal.
Torres scored two goals himself in the second half. The first came in the 51st minute. Logan Zimmerman (first year, midfield, Kamloops, BC) did all the work hustling down the left side of the pitch. He got to the goal line and crossed it over the top of Venhola. Torres was left alone in the centre of the goal to tap it home for his first of the campaign.
At the 67th minute, Torres got a breakaway just outside the 18-yard box and took off towards the UNBC net. He went left side for his second of the contest and of the year.
Torres was named the TRU Bookstore/McDonald's Leader of the Pack Player of the Match. Antulov praised him along with midfielder Satinder Dhaliwal (second year, Surrey, BC) and Zimmerman for their play.
"Those three guys stood out. Satinder was fantastic again. He is so consistent. Everyone this weekend played fantastic but we had four or five guys who were strong including Colton Walker (second year, midfield, Sicamous, BC) and Austin Schneebeli (second year, defender, Sicamous, BC). To get results in this league, we need everyone on top of their game."
Travis Froehlich (fourth year, keeper, Revelstoke, BC) notched his second straight shutout and third of the season.
The WolfPack will close their inaugural Canada West season out next weekend (October 18-19) with a home-and-home series with the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat. The first match is Saturday, 2 pm at Hillside Stadium.
"UBCO has played great this year," says Antulov. "It is nice to have the confidence of two straight wins going in. They will be well coached. They have a lot of good players. It is that Kelowna-Kamloops rivalry and it won't take much to get the guys motivated. We have to play like we did this weekend – strong at the back and get a couple of goals."
CORNER KICKS: The WolfPack played without Stefan Shaw (third year, defender, Duncan, BC) and Jacob Kaay (fifth year, midfield, Kamloops, BC). Both were sitting out one-game suspensions for accumulated yellow cards.
Kaay will be honored next Saturday in his final university match.
Two U-7 boys teams from the Kamloops Youth Soccer Association, the Purple Dark Knights and the Snipers, accompanied the starters onto the field and played at half time. It was part of the Gyldi's Pizza/WolfPack/KYSA Soccer Experience.