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Blues men end yo-yo regular season on a high

THE Capilano Blues men's soccer team clinched a playoff berth with a wild weekend on and off the field, moving from last in their Pacwest group all the way up to second to finish their topsy turvy regular season back near the top.

THE Capilano Blues men's soccer team clinched a playoff berth with a wild weekend on and off the field, moving from last in their Pacwest group all the way up to second to finish their topsy turvy regular season back near the top.

"It's kind of been the story of the season - it's been a dogfight and it's been a slugfest," said head coach Paul Dailly moments after his Blues punched their ticket to the playoffs with a 3-3 tie against UBC-Okanagan Sunday. "A couple of weeks ago we were sitting in second, and after last week we were sitting in fourth. It seemed to be up and down all season."

Entering the final weekend of regular season action the Blues sat out of the playoffs in fourth place in their group, one point behind Thompson Rivers University and two behind UBCO. On Thursday that gap narrowed without a single ball being kicked as Douglas College's team was ruled to have used an illegal player for their entire season and were forced to forfeit their games up to that point. That reversed an earlier loss by the Blues and put them into a tie for third with TRU, one point behind UBCO.

With a tough 2-1 win over TRU on Saturday the Blues found themselves back in second place with a chance to clinch the spot with a win or tie on Sunday against UBCO. Against the Heat on Sunday the Blues made things interesting but in the end they got the point they needed.

First-year midfielder Will Barraclough opened the scoring against UBCO 25 minutes in, setting up West Van grad William Westcott with a lovely through ball before charging into the box to take the return pass and guiding it into the open net.

With time winding down in the first half Capilano goalkeeper Reid Alsop, a fourth year Carson Graham grad, made the save of the game, reacting quickly to deny a far-post header from just six yards out to keep the Blues in the lead heading into the half.

The second half started brilliantly for the Blues with Dhani Sharma chipping the UBCO goalie from a near impossible angle, his shot coming from a yard or less off the goal line and settling in the back of the net as UBCO defenders failed to clear it off the line. Less than 15 minutes later the Blues appeared to be in the clear after speedy winger Lucas Sweda corralled a lofted free kick taken from near the half line, catching it in full stride and with one more sweet touch sliding it past the goalie for a 3-0 lead.

"He took it down very nicely, took a great touch and just slotted it home - it was a nice, calm finish on his part," Dailly said of Sweda's goal. "He's been one of our better performers all season in his freshman year, a young guy that's full of talent, full of run."

With a three-goal lead as well as the threat of injuries and cumulative yellow-card suspensions hanging over the team, Dailly decided to take out a few key players and almost paid for it with second place as the Heat scored three goals in 10 minutes to tie the game up. The Blues, however, shut the door for the final 15 minutes to preserve the single point as well as their place in the rankings. The tie earned UBCO the third and final playoff spot in the group with TRU missing out in fourth.

"I thought at 3-0 up making a few subs wouldn't hurt us but apparently I was wrong," said Dailly with a wry laugh. "Credit to UBCO though, they fought, they needed a result as well and they fought back. Hats off to them, they gave us a great game today.

"At the end of the day we got the job done," said Dailly. "It's the point we needed but giving up a 3-0 lead is never an easy pill to swallow."

Barraclough, a Handsworth grad who seemed to cause problems for the UBCO defence every time he touched the ball, was one of the starters removed from the game and it took his return after the three UBCO goals to help settle the game down again.

"He's had some injury problems this season but we're absolutely happy to have him back," said Dailly. "He's a very, very useful player when he's out there for us, he creates chances for us as he did today. He's a difference-maker."

The Blues now move on to the provincial championships - Oct. 28-30 at UBCO - where they'll play Langara in the quarterfinals. Despite Sunday's near collapse Dailly said he likes what he has seen from his team heading into provincials.

"I'm feeling confident. We seem to be getting healthy at the right time and hopefully we're going to get a couple more guys back before next week," he said. "Provincials is a tough one - the hardest part is just getting in and then now it's just game by game, singlegame knockout. The team that shows up and plays the best is the one that at the end of the day takes home the provincial championship."

aprest@nsnews.com