Kick Six: Mariners Finish 2022 with a Sixth Place Finish at CCAA Nationals
VIU finished 1-3 at the CCAA National Championship in Vancouver
VANCOUVER, BC - The PACWEST champion Mariners started with a big win but lost three close games in a row to finish in sixth place at the 2022 CCAA Men's Soccer National Championship.
Game recaps and photos courtesy the CCAA
Quarterfinal: VIU Mariners 5, Holland Hurricanes 2
November 9, 2022
Video - Game Sheet - Photos
Ahead 3-0 at the half, the VIU Mariners saw their lead slip down to a single goal after the Holland Hurricanes tallied a pair of quick strikes to make it a one-goal game with just less than 20 minutes to play.
But Vasilis Bagiopoulos – who the night before was named a Canadian Colleges Athletic Association Men's Soccer All-Canadian – delivered a pair of goals to complete the hat trick as the Nanaimo school from Vancouver Island defeated their Prince Edward Island opponent, Charlottetown's Holland Hurricanes 5-2 on Wednesday morning in the first game of the CCAA Men's Soccer National Championship at Langley's Willoughby Community Park.
"When you are up 3-0 (you know) the second team needs to give it their all in the second half and that is exactly what they did," Bagiopoulos explained. "It was kind of a shock for us, we didn't really expect it; I definitely didn't expect it, but then we did well to score again and get back on track, settle down and calm our nerves."
After the Hurricanes' Mohammad Alhaj Ali (53') and Kazuya Iwasaki (72') scored to make it a one-goal game, Bagiopoulos responded in the 79th minute and then completed the hat trick (90'+3).
Bagiopoulos opened the scoring in the 15th minute before Matthew Coburn (29') and Declan Brown (38') tacked on goals for the multi-score lead at the half.
"I am not really a vocal leader – we have other guys that are vocal – I try to be more of a leader on the field. I am happy I got (my goals) but I am happy my teammates scored too. We need our confidence to be up for the next game," Bagiopoulos explained.
Mariners head coach Kevin Lindo said getting an early lead helped the team relax and play the style they wanted to. He was also impressed by the fact they had three players find the back of the net as to win a championship, a team must receive contributions from multiple sources.
"It is going to be crucial going through the tournament, who has the depth, who has the bodies and who can stay fresh right until the end," he said.
The 4imprint Players of the Game for each team were Bagiopoulos for the Mariners and Julien Jones for the Hurricanes.
Semifinal: Seneca Sting 1, VIU Mariners 1 (4-3 PKs)
November 10, 2022
Athletes can be creatures of habit but sometimes it pays to go with your gut.
With the game in penalty kicks – the second straight afternoon they found themselves in the situation – Seneca Sting goaltender Anthony Gurrieri had just made a second save on the fifth VIU Mariners shooter, meaning a successful kick here would send the Toronto team to the championship final.
Francisco Thomas Cerro always shoots fifth for his team in this situation, so he had the opportunity to watch the previous nine shooters.
"The whole time I was standing there, I was thinking I always shoot to the left, but I was thinking in my head maybe I should go right because maybe they have watched me shoot penalties before," he explained afterwards. "I went with my gut feeling and went right and everything worked out."
It was his second goal of the game, as he also opened the scoring in the 60th minute, although the Mariners would equalize less than four minutes later with Billy Bagiopoulos erasing the deficit.
"We took a few minutes off and they scored within a few minutes which is disappointing, but credit to the guys, they never stopped believing," said Seneca coach Patrice Gheisar.
The win advances Seneca – the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) finalists – to Saturday's championship final. It will mark the program's first appearance in the title game since 2009, when they won the title. It was also the last time the Sting have medalled.
Gurrieri was Seneca's 4imprint Player of the Game while VIU's Matthew Coburn was his team's recipient of the award.
Bronze Semifinal: SAIT Trojans 2, VIU Mariners 1
November 11, 2022
The SAIT Trojans are a victory away from medalling for the first time at the CCAA Men's National Soccer Championship.
The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference champions from Calgary scored goals in the 21st minute and again in the 57th in a 2-1 victory over the Pacific Western Athletic Association (PacWest) champion VIU Mariners from Nanaimo.
The Mariners received a goal from Billy Bagiopoulos (90'+2') but could not muster the equalizer.
The Trojans goals came from Nico Gonzales – this third in the past two games – and 4imprint Player of the Game Brock Mitchell, who scored for the second consecutive game.
"Just desire. I think the whole team, every position, everyone did their job, everyone worked as hard as they could, and ultimately, I think that is what got it for us," Mitchell said.
Mitchell said it means a lot to be in contention for a medal after losing their opening-round match.
"If you let it affect you too much, it definitely makes it harder to go forward so you have to shake it off. That is part of the adversity into getting to this stage; on to the next," he said.
Coach Connor Brady was proud of his team's effort considering they are fighting both injuries and a flu bug.
SAIT played at nationals last year as well, losing both of their games, but gaining valuable experience.
"In order to become that winning program, there is a lot of learning that has to happen," said SAIT coach Connor Brady, who received his second yellow card and will miss the next match.
"Bit of grit, bit of determination, and a whole lot of heart from this group," he said. "Today was a gutsy one."
VIU's Juan Rubiano was his team's 4imprint Player of the Game.
Fifth/Sixth Place Game: Langara Falcons 4, VIU Mariners 3
November 12, 2022
In a rematch of the PacWest championship final two weeks ago, this time it was the Langara Falcons edging the VIU Mariners to finish in fifth place at the CCAA Men's Soccer National Championship.
The Falcons built up a 4-1 lead and held on for the 4-3 victory after the Mariners scored a pair of goals in the latter stages of the second half.
VIU had scored a 2-0 upset win over Langara in the conference championship back in October but it was the Falcons prevailing in the fifth-sixth place game.
"VIU has a good program, but we didn't want to lose to a rival," said Langara coach Marc Rizzardo, while also lamenting the fact his team should have won the conference championship game between the two, which would have altered their draw at nationals.
Health and fitness played factors in Saturday's result as Rizzardo felt his team was healthier than their opponent, and he was also impressed with his squad's stamina as the bulk of his team was counted on to play four matches in four days.
The Mariners' Hirotaka Nishikawa opened the scoring in the 26th minute before Taku Ota tied things up with a goal in the 37th minute for a 1-1 score at the half. Ben Crowther (47') gave the Falcons the lead early in the second half and Athos Michellepis de Siqueira made it 3-1 10 minutes later. Ota would convert a penalty kick for his second of the contest in the 75th minute and that proved to be the difference with Billy Bagiopoulos and Michael Heppelle responded with tallies in the 79th and 81st minute.
Crowther was the 4imprint Player of the Game for Langara while Thomas Greze-Kozuki earned the honour for the Mariners.
*Note: at the conclusion of the tournament, VIU's Vasilis Bagiopoulos was named a CCAA Championship All-Star.