Men's Soccer Season Ends with PACWEST Silver

COQUITLAM, B.C – The VIU Mariners are PACWEST silver medallists following a 2-0 loss to the Douglas Royals in the conference gold medal game.

The top-seeded Royals advance to the CCAA National Men's Soccer Championships in Calgary, November 10-13, while the loss ends the third-seeded Mariners season.

Played under sunny skies at Cunnings Field in Coquitlam, B.C., the first twenty minutes were tightly played by both teams. Highlights included a 12th minute diving save by Royals 'keeper Jacob McCall on a left-footed blast by Shun Takano and a 20th-minute flying save by Mariners 'keeper Ben Chamberlin to knock a cross away from a Royals attacker.

The Royals got on the board in the 24th minute as PACWEST goal scoring co-leader Yianni Siafakas raced towards a long through ball and Chamberlin raced out past the 18-yard box in an attempt to kick it away. Chamberlin's kick rebounded off of the hard-charging Siafakas and bounced back into the open net.

The Royals went up 2-0 in the 31st minute after a Chamberlin made a nice stop on a low shot from the left, but the rebound bounced out in front of the goal. From about eight yards out, Royals midfielder Quinn Desaulniers collected the ball and fired in a shot off of the foot of a Mariner defender.

Chamberlin made a great save on a Royals near-breakaway in the 60th minute and a crucial stop in the 83rd minute to keep the score in reach. McCall did his part, snuffing out VIU chances in the 68th and 88th minutes, and the Mariners were kept off of the scoreboard.

Chamberlin was named Player of the Game for VIU, while Royals defender Burhan Waisy was the POTG for Douglas.

Waisy was also named top defender and tournament MVP. In addition, the Royals nabbed top goaltender (Jacob McCall) and top forward (Yianni Siafakas) awards while VIU's Shun Takano, in his final PACWEST game, was named top midfielder.

VIU's men's soccer season ends with a 5-5-1 record (4-4-1 regular season, 1-1 playoffs).