Braedan Willis, Vikes Communications
VICTORIA- The University of Victoria Vikes knocked off the No. 1-ranked team in U SPORTS, the Trinity Western Spartans by a score of 2-1 on Oct. 20 in Victoria.
The win means that the Vikes will finish in the fourth playoff position in the Canada West Pacific Division.
"Knocking off the top team will give our team a huge boost heading into the playoffs," said Vikes head coach Tracy David. "This result shows that we can play with anyone in this league when we put our minds to it. The playoffs will tough but I think our squad is up to the challenge."
Despite the loss, Trinity Western will still finish on top of the Canada West pacific division with a 12-2-0 record.
"It was a good battle out there today for both teams," mentioned Spartans head coach Graham Roxburgh. "We decided to rest a few of our regulars due to the fact we weren't able to improve our league standing but that is not to take any credit away from UVic. They needed a win tonight and they played like it."
The Vikes opened the scoring in the 30thminute of the match when Georgia Bignold deflected in a corner kick coming off the foot of Aishy Shinomura to give Victoria a 1-0 lead.
Just four mintues later Gabi Short answered for the Spartans scoring her seventh of the season to tie the game up at 1-1. Short put her shot past Victoria keepr Puck Louwes after being fed a through pass from Amy Gartke. The two teams would hit the locker room at half tied at a score of 1-1.
Kiara Kilbey restored the Vikes lead early in the second half. Second-year Vike Dari Cote placed her cross kick perfectly into the box, allowing Kilbey to deflect it past Spartan keeper Rachel Sydor, giving the Vikes a 2-1 lead in the 47thminute. The Spartans would make a big push late in search of the tying goal but were unable to even the score.
With the regular season schedule now complete, the Spartans will have to wait and see whom they will face in their quarter final match on Oct. 28. The Vikes finished fourth in the pacific division and will be up against the fifth place team from the prairie division in a single game play-in on Oct. 26.
GAME MVPs
TWU: #16 Jenaya Robertson
VIC: #9 Dari Cote