The University of the Fraser Valley men’s soccer team bombed the Kwantlen Eagles 5-2 in their first exhibition action.
The game was played Saturday at UFV’s new home at Abbotsford secondary school. The team spent the last two years playing at Chilliwack’s Townsend Park.
The Cascades and Eagles were tied 1-1 at halftime.
UFV’s James Najman (Surrey) opened the scoring eight minutes in, but Kwantlen equalized at the 16 minute mark.
A four-goal second half flurry made the difference for the Cascades.
Trevor O’Neill (Abbotsford) got UFV rolling with an early goal.
Chilliwack’s Connor MacMillan earned a penalty kick and wired it into the top left corner for the third Cascade strike.
Rookie Elijah Sampson and veteran Justin Sekhon (Abbotsford) had the other tallies.
“I think the score was probably a true reflection,” said UFV coach Alan Errington, “but having said that, I think the score could have been 3-3 at halftime. I thought Kwantlen played very well and they’re a very good team. We dodged a couple bullets early on, but that’s expected in this part of the year.”
Unhampered by the usual limits on substitutions, the Cascades cycled through several players. Errington experimented with combinations and chemistry.
Three goalkeepers, Ortiz, Alex Skrzeta, and Mason Woochuk, spent time in net. Several rookies, including Chilliwack FC product Grant Fadden, helped reinforce the defensive line.
Overall, he was impressed with the contributions of his new recruits.
“Some of the young players came on and really played well,” he said.
The Cascades play another PACWEST conference member, Langara College, on Saturday in their only other home preseason game before leaving for an eight-day team trip to California.
See ufvcascades.ca