Mariners Peaking Down the Stretch to the PACWEST Playoffs

NANAIMO - The VIU Mariners showed a lot of growth and quality as they earned 8 of 12 points against the Douglas Royals and the league-leading Langara Falcons to finish off the regular season. VIU, which finishes in second place, will play the Douglas Royals in the conference semifinal at the PACWEST Provincial Championships, Saturday, October 29.

Week 5
Saturday, October 15: VIU 2 - Douglas 1
Sunday, October 16: VIU 0 - Douglas 0

After Douglas and VIU played to two tie games earlier in the season, VIU came through with the victory after a thrilling finish.

A 77th-minute goal from Vasilis Bagiopoulos was answered only five minutes later by the Royals's Bashar Kadmani. This set the stage for a 90th-minute winner from Declan Brown, who knocked in a header off a cross from from Hirotaka Nishikawa.

Goalkeeper Kevin Picard was outstanding in the victory. The Royals fired 30 shots towards the VIU net--19 on target--and Picard held his ground long enough for VIU to net the late winner to the delight of the home crowd.

The Sunday rematch was, in a similar manner to the women's game earlier in the day,  a chess match for both teams with not a lot of shots on target: two for VIU and six for Douglas. Kevin Picard earned the shutout.

Week 6
Saturday, October 22: VIU 3 - Langara 1
Sunday, October 23: VIU 0 - Langara 0

VIU struggled with Langara earlier in the season, but the Mariners showed a renewed resolve in the final weekend of the season and earned a win and a tie against the top team in the conference.

The Mariners served noticed that they were ready to compete right off the top, as Declan Brown scored for the Mariners less than two minutes into the game. The score held until right before the half-time whistle, as Langara equalized on a goal from Athos Michellepis de Siqueira.

Twenty-minutes into the second half, the Mariners took the lead for good on a goal from Douglas Mtatabikwa, and Hirotaka Nishikawa added an insurance marker in the 84th minute. 

On Sunday, the game was preceded by a recognition ceremony for graduating seniors Kevin Picard, Jonny McKenzie, and Thompson Nelson.  

In a similar manner to the previous week's Sunday game, the teams were not as quick to trade chances; the Falcons outshot the Mariners 7-2 on the day and Michael Heppelle earned an acrobatic shutout for VIU. 

With the victory, VIU finished the regular season in second place with a 5-2-5 record. The Royals finished with the same record, but VIU claimed second place based on the season series, with a record of one win and three ties. 

The Mariners also finished with the third-most goals scored (15 in 12 games) and the second stingiest defence, only allowing 14 goals during the regular season.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

After making plenty of difficult saves in VIU's 2-1 Saturday win—the first win in the season series between VIU and Douglas—Picard earned a clean sheet in Sunday's match. This gave VIU 4 of a possible 6 points on the weekend and moved the Mariners into second spot in the conference.

 "Kev commanded his area superbly all weekend and made some game-winning saves," VIU head coach Kevin Lindo said. "He started multiple attacks and really led from the back."

The Royals were firing away on Saturday, launching 30 shots with 19 on goal. However, 18 of those were caught or parried away by the Mariners keeper, which kept VIU in the game until the Mariners scored a game winner in the 90^th minute. In Sunday's match, Picard make six saves en route to the shutout tie.

"The weekend objective was to concede very little," Lindo said, "and we did just that."

Despite missing most of the 2022 season due to injury, third-year midfielder/defender and veteran Travis Brown got back into the lineup for the final weekend of the season and paid immediate dividends as the Mariners defeated and tied the top-ranked Langara Falcons.

"Two great performances," head coach Kevin Lindo said of Brown. "He was a big reason we only conceded one goal over the weekend. His leadership and quality in the field have given the team an extra boost as we move into the playoffs."

UP NEXT

The Mariners and Royals, who played incredibly close throughout those four games, will meet up for a fifth time this year in the PACWEST men's soccer semifinal, Saturday, October 29 at 4:30 p.m. at Mulgrave School in West Vancouver.

The semifinal winner will face the Langara Falcons in the in the PACWEST championship game (Sunday, October 30, 4:30 p.m.) and will also qualify for the CCAA Men's Soccer National Championship in Vancouver, BC, November 9-12, 2022.

For more information on the PACWEST Soccer Championships, including schedules and livestream info, visit the tournament website.