It was a weekend of Friday (Sept. 13) night delight and Sunday (Sept. 15) afternoon disappointment for the University of the Fraser Valley men's and women's soccer teams this past weekend.
The women hosted the MRU Cougars for their home opener on Friday and Chilliwack's Emerson Toop scored the club's first goal this season at 17:51. That goal was enough and Kiana Langston added another at 65:16 to give the Cascades the 2-0 win.
WSOC | Here’s a look at Emerson Toop’s first career goal in the first half! pic.twitter.com/Pj24xJP25K
— UFV Cascades (@UFVCascades) September 14, 2024
UFV goalie Addy Chen earned the shutout and made four saves. The goal was the first career Canada West goal for Toop, who is a G.W. Graham grad.
"It feels amazing," she stated after the game. "I have been working towards this since I was probably five years old, and the reaction from the team made it feel so surreal. The best part was the moments after. As soon as the kickoff happened, we were all ready to go. The first goal of the season and we were all buzzing after that."
The men got on the board just 1:45 into the game against Saskatchewan on Friday when Dante Colebourne scored his first this season. Red-hot Mateo Brazinha added another in the 87th and UFV won 2-0. Brazinha now has five goals this season to lead the team. Jackson Cowx picked up his third shutout this season.
MSOC | You can’t start much better than that!
— UFV Cascades (@UFVCascades) September 14, 2024
Dante Coebourne puts the Cascades ahead with his first career @CanadaWest goal! pic.twitter.com/LLBcieLqyV
"Our team mentality is that we are just going to work hard, for each other and with each other, so that's what we want to do every game," Colebourne stated. "Especially at Rotary, we want to make it hard for teams to come here and play us."
Sunday saw the women fall behind 3-0 to the Victoria Vikes early in the second half and eventuall fall 4-1.
Kiana Langston's second goal of the season was the lone tally for the Cascades.
The women's record now sits at 1-3 and they next head to Prince George for a game against the UNBC Timberwolves on Sept. 20 and then Vancouver to take on the UBC Thunderbirds on Sept. 22.
The men got off to another strong start on Sunday, with Brazinha notching his league-leading sixth goal on the season at 2:58, but couldn't hang on as the Lethbridge Pronghorns escaped with a 2-1 win.
MSOC | For the second time this weekend, the Cascades score inside the first five minutes at Rotary Stadium!@goUFV 1 Lethbridge 0 pic.twitter.com/hze7D9mBqo
— UFV Cascades (@UFVCascades) September 15, 2024
"For most of the first half we controlled the game, and apart from the goal we really limited them," stated men's head coach Tom Lowndes. "For whatever reason we came out in the second half with little to no energy, and got outworked. That's the beauty and the horror of Canada West. Anyone can be anyone, and full credit to Lethbridge, they wanted it more in the second half."
The men drop to 4-2-2 on the season with the loss. UFV sits in third place in the Pacific Division after the weekend.
They next head to Edmonton to take on the MacEwan Griffins on Sept. 20 and then visit the Calgary Dinos on Sept. 22.
Both teams return home on Oct. 4. For more on the teams, visit gocascades.ca.