For only the sixth time in PacWest history, one university has pulled a sweep in men’s and women’s soccer.
The Douglas College Royals program celebrated a double-win on the weekend, after victories in both the men’s and women’s championship finals in Squamish.
For the men, they went from underdog to overwhelming stars in one weekend.
The Royals men’s soccer team entered the PacWest provincial championships on Saturday as the third seed but vaulted over their two opponents to capture the 2017 B.C. title.
Sunday’s 3-0 shutout over No. 4-seed Quest Kermodes, who also delivered an upset in Saturday’s semifinals, catapults the Royals into the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association national championships, which begin Nov. 8 in Nanaimo.
An own goal in the 34th minute, when a Kermodes player accidentally put the ball behind netminder Sam MacDonald, gave Douglas the lead. Fifteen minutes into the second half, Burnaby’s Edris Najm doubled
it. With time winding down, Tetsuya Yoshinaga, who was voted the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, provided the final nail in a whirlwind weekend.
To get into the final, the New West-based squad took an early 2-0 lead and leveraged that for the win over defending provincial champion Capilano a day earlier.
Markers by Nawaf Binsa-leh and Stefan Kamner, five minutes apart before the game was 20-minutes old, set the tone. Kamner added his second of the game early in the second half, while Capilano counted two goals in the last five minutes.
Netminder Ryo Mizuno
was named the Player of the Game after turning back eight shots, a couple of the highlight reel variety.
Kamner was named as the tourney’s top forward.
Douglas placed third during the regular season with a 5-5-2 record, and entered the playoffs on a 1-2 slide. In their last game prior to the semifinals, the Royals were hammered 6-2 by second-place Capilano.
It was equally as mammoth for the women’s side.
For the second time in three years, the Douglas College Royals are the soccer queens of B.C.
The squad edged the Capilano Blues 1-0 in the fifth round of penalty kicks, with netminder Alexa Gazzola providing heroics at both ends of the turf.
The Vancouver native scored the decisive tally with her club’s fifth shot, while stopping two Capilano shooters during the showdown. The final Blues kicker missed the net to clinch the award for the Royals.
The two teams had endured a skilled, defensive battle over the game’s 90 minutes and extra time. Neither squad could bury one past Gazzola or Caps’ keeper Nikki Gerbrandt.
Also counting goals for Douglas in penalty kicks were PacWest Player of the Year Mikayla Hamilton and all-star Sam Kell.
In the semifinal, fifth-year
captain Michelle Wessa scored first and Hamilton added what would prove to be the game winner in a 2-1 decision over the Vancouver Island Mariners.
Douglas, who placed first overall with a 7-3-2 record, were looking to avenge a loss a year ago to VIU in the provincial final, and earn a third consecutive berth to the national championships.
Wessa scored two minutes into the second half, while Hamilton’s tally came in the 63rd minute. VIU closed the gap with a fistful of minutes to play, but Douglas’ defence closed ranks and locked up the victory.
Wessa picked up the Top Midfielder award at the tourney, while Hamilton was selected the MVP.
The Royals move on to Nova Scotia next week for the CCAA women’s
national championships, looking to improve on last year’s bronze medal.
