The Douglas Royals are going back to the Canadian college soccer nationals, albeit as a wild card.
The Royals played PacWest regular season champions Thompson Rivers University WolfPack to a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes of regulation time and two periods of overtime before losing 4-3 on penalty kicks at the provincial championships in Nanaimo on Sunday.
After playing to a scoreless first half, TRU opened the scoring early in the second on a goal by Ashley Raynes.
Douglas evened the score off a corner kick in the 64th minute.
Defender Nico Jecanski took advantage of a brisk wind and slotted a well taken strike into the top corner of the net.
The Royals kept working for the win, but the Thompson Rivers defence managed to keep Douglas off the board.
“Our goal coming in was to qualify,” said Douglas co-head coach Robby Toor. “That game on Saturday was played like a provincial final. It was a battle on Saturday.
The third-place PacWest finishers upset league runner-up Langara College 2-0 in the semifinal, affectively earning at least a PacWest wildcard berth to the upcoming nationals, which will be held in Saint John, N.B. from Nov. 6 to 9.
Despite losing All-Canadian Javid Khan to a contentious red card in the match, Douglas was full value for the victory.
Sandhu opened the scoring just 15 minutes in, when Douglas freshman Shahbaz Khattra beat two defenders down the flank and sent through a cross that the PacWest provincial all-star top forward headed in.
Playing without Khan, Douglas kept the pressure on Langara, including an unsuccessful penalty shot from Sandhu in the final 30 minutes of the second half.
Khattra iced the win for Douglas with a series of exciting moves with 15 minutes to go, beating a number of Langara defenders and the keeper.
“That Langara game was probably the most competitive game, whistle to whistle,” said Toor. “We didn’t sit back, we had our chances.”
The Royals, seeded fourth going into the nationals, will take on No. 5 Alberta wildcard Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in its opening round match on Nov. 6.
The four-time defending Ontario and defending national champion Humber Hawks are seeded No. 1.
Thompson Rivers goes into the nationals seeded second overall.
No. 3 is Alberta champion MacEwan Griffins, a 3-1 winner over NAIT in the provincial championship final.
A dark horse is Quebec champion Dawson College, an unranked provincial sixth seed that knocked off league champion and No. 3 national seed Elans de Garneau in overtime in the provincial final.
At last year’s nationals hosted by Douglas, the Royals were knocked out in the semifinals by NAIT.
“The boys were disappointed (in the provincial final), but you could tell by the senior guys what the ultimate goal is,” added Toor.
The Canadian Collegiate championships kickoff on Nov. 5 with an awards dinner, where All-Canadian players of the year and coach of the year will be named.
The final placement games and medal finals will take place on Saturday, Nov. 9.
