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UFV Cascades men’s soccer team leaps into playoff picture

Cascades sweep TWU Spartans to go above .500 and enter the postseason conversation
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UFV’s Taylor Richardson celebrates his game-winning goal at Abbotsford’s Rotary Stadium on Sunday (Oct. 9). (Jordie Arthur/UFV Athletics)

The University of the Fraser Valley men’s soccer team is red hot and, after a clean sweep of the Trinity Western University Spartans over the weekend, have leapfrogged into the Canada West playoff picture.

The Cascades got a pair of clutch goals from Taylor Richardson late on Friday (Oct. 7) to earn a 3-1 victory over the Spartans in Langley.

UFV’s Trevor Zanatta opened the scoring in the dying moments of the first half to put the Cascades up 1-0, but the Spartans tied the game up in the 74th minute. Richardson went on to score two goals in under two minutes starting at the 82nd minute mark to give UFV the win. Midfielder Charandeep Rangi also had an excellent game with three assists.

Cascades head coach Tom Lowndes praised the play of Richardson and the team as a whole.

“Quality players show up on the big occasions and they deliver. That’s the second time this season that Tay’s put the team on his back when we’re in trouble,” he said. “We could have had our heads down when we conceded a penalty, a red card, and a goal, but we stuck together and we showed a real fighting spirit.”

The two teams met again at Abbotsford’s Rotary Stadium on Sunday (Oct. 9) and Richardson again provided the winning spark.

With the teams tied at one, Richardson broke free and booted one past the Spartans goalie in the 70th minute. That goal stood up and the Cascades earned the 2-1 win.

The Spartans opened the scoring in the 10th minute, with Parman Minhas knotting the game up at the 33 minute mark. Minhas said the team has a lot of confidence, especially at home.

“We’ve built Rotary as a fortress now and we are going to make every game competitive,” he said. “We have belief in our team and belief in the system so we’re just going to keep it going.”

The pair of wins improve the men to a record of 5-4-2 and they have now moved into the fourth and final playoff spot in the CW’s Pacific Division. The team next hosts the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday (Oct. 14) and then the Victoria Vikes on Saturday (Oct. 15).

For more on the team, visit gocascades.ca.



Ben Lypka

About the Author: Ben Lypka

I joined the Abbotsford News in 2015.
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