Six point weekend!

Robert Murray
Contributor

he last game action at the NCSSL fields
for the UNBC Timberwolves ended

differently for the men’s and women’s soccer

teams, though the future remains bright for
both clubs.

The men’s TWolves ended the home portion
of their schedule with a pair of victories
over the Trinity Western University
Spartans, taking 5-3 and 1-0 decisions on
the weekend to keep their name in the
CWUAA playoff picture for the time being.

On the other side of the ball, the women’s
soccer team endured through another
pair of weekend defeats, their fourth
straight weekend witnessing the same
result. This time, it was the Spartans doing
the damage to the TWolves, earning 2-0
and 4-1 defeats over the home side.

On saturday, a combination of the team’s
desire to shake off a six-game losing streak
and impress the home crowd in their

final set of home games for the season
paid off in a 5-3 victory for the club.

The TWolves built a 3-1 lead early in the
second half thanks to a goal from Brett
Bobier before allowing two quick goals to
tie the game up. Rookie forward Brandon
Marshall led the way for the TWolves
with a hat trick, including a well-timed
header in the 73rd minute to put his
team ahead of the Spartans for good.

On sunday, the team’s defence took

over the responsibility in earning the
victory — their third of the season and

a club record since the team join the CIS
ahead of the 2012 season. Goalkeeper Ty
Venhola made a season-high 15 saves and
Francesco Bartolillo scored his second goal
of the season in the 84th minute to give
the TWolves their first weekend sweep

in their history of Canada West play.

The victories put the TWolves three
points back of the University of
Fraser Valley Cascades for the final
playoff spot in the Pacific Division
of the Canada West Conference.

With their losing streak reaching eight
games this past weekend, the women’s
soccer TWolves will have to wait another
season for a chance to earn their way
into the post-season, but have some
positives to drawn on heading into

their final two games of the season.

The club dropped the aforementioned

2-0 and 4-1 results to the Spartans on the
weekend, the top team in the country

and the second-best offence in the
CanadaWest conference. The wins were an
improvement on the TWolves’ play against
the Spartans in the previous two years,
which resulted in 4-0 and 7-0 losses.

Allowing an average of 3.1 goals per
game this season, the figure has risen
from the 2.08 the club allowed a year
ago, but is still on the right side of the
5.29 they allowed two years ago.

While the team is lagging behind in several
statistical categories from last season,
including goals scored, goals allowed and
opponents shot percentage, the team

has a chance to make amends for them

in their final two games of the season.

In a league where overall points do the final
talking for measuring a team’s success,

the TWolves can set a new career high

for points in a season with a win and a
draw Thanksgiving weekend against the
Thompson Rivers University WolfPack.

Both TWolves clubs played their

final regular season games this past
weekend in a trip to Kamloops to face
the WolfPack. Results for those games
were not available as of press time.

ports

Entering a New Ice Age

Brady Stark
Team Member

ubbed “the New Ice Age”, the sale of

the PG Cougars to a group led by Greg
Pocock was the first step in changing the
feelings around the town in regards to the
team. For the past seven seasons, the team
has been on a downward spiral. This led to
ever-decreasing fan support; last year only
saw about 1700 fans per game in an arena
that holds roughly 6000.

Since the new ownership began this
past summer, there has been an excess
of positive energy surrounding the team
both on and off the ice, with a near

sell out of the CN centre for the first
regular season game in over a decade.

The new ownership brought in general
manager Todd Harkins to boost energy
on ice. Next, we have his son Jansen
Harkins, a rumoured high draft pick,
adding to the excitement even further.

Pocock has spoken at length about
the importance of identifing the
issues that plagued the team,

fans, and former ownership.

Management is dedicated towards making
the Cougars a desirable team to play for.
Pocock sayd that he is eliminating the
excuses. As the Cougars enter this New
Ice Age, fans can only hope that their
team is not left out in the cold again.

get your tickets today!

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