It was a weekend the players from both Douglas College Royals soccer teams would probably like to forget.
Both men’s and women’s teams failed to pull out a win in the two games apiece they played.
The women went into their game on Sunday after a 2-1 loss Saturday to Kwantlen Polytechnic University, but facing Quest University – a team they had already beaten earlier in the season (2-1 on Sept. 7).
The opening 45 minutes of play at home on the Royals’ Cunnings Field was a see-saw back and forth battle with neither team finding the back of the net. The Royals did put on the pressure, including a volley from midfielder Michelle Wells just outside the box, but not enough to get on the board.
It was a pair of zeroes at halftime.
Douglas’ 5-9 keeper, Rebecca Mainardi couldn’t stop the women from Quest in the second. Quest opened with two rapid-fire goals, making it 2-0 early in the second half.
Only luck kept it from being 3-0 when Quest hit the crossbar in the 75th minute. Douglas increased the pressure as the clock ran down, but it wasn’t enough. Final score was 2-0 for Quest.
“We just have to keep working hard and keep believing in what we’re trying to do,” said Douglas coach Chris Laxton, in a press release. “ I don’t think we’re as bad as an 0-2 weekend. We’ll just regroup, refocus and have another good week of training,” he said.
The Royals men’s team went into their Sunday game after a 1-0 loss to Kwantlen Saturday. Sunday’s game against Quest, a team the men had beaten a couple of weeks ago (1-0 on Sept. 7), started off badly for the Royals. Six minutes in, Quest was on the board. The 1-0 score stuck into the second half.
Finally, at minute 73, Burnaby Central alumnus Spencer Deboice tied it up. Neither team could find the back of the net after that. The final score was 1-1.
Royals’ assistant coach Nour Fathy looked for the silver lining in the tie.
“I think we’re still trying to get into the groove of things. It’s just a matter of the guys doing the right things and buying into the system that we’re trying to implement. The good thing is we’re not even halfway through the season and we’re still in the top half of the group. It’s about taking the positives and moving forward with that,” he said.
In spite of the losses, Douglas’ women are still in first place in the PacWest standings and the men in third. Both squads will take on Vancouver Island University and Capilano next weekend.
