THE Capilano University men's and women's soccer teams may need to bring calculators along with their cleats this weekend as they each host a pair of games to close out the Pacwest regular season with playoff berths hanging in the balance.
Both Blues squads sit in fourth place in their groups - one spot out of the playoffs - but both could potentially move up if the results add up correctly in a busy weekend across the league.
The men are in a better position in that they control their own destiny. Sitting in fourth place with 11 points, they host third place Thompson Rivers University (12 points) on Saturday and second place UBC Okanagan (13 points) on Sunday to close out the season. A pair of wins would vault them into second place and guarantee them a playoff spot. A tie or loss would complicate things, opening the door for a wide range of outcomes amongst the three tightly bunched teams. TRU and UBCO will also each play Vancouver Island University, the group's first-place team, once this weekend.
On the women's side the Blues sit in fourth place with 11 points, four behind third-place VIU. Capilano needs to win both of their games against TRU and UBCO, the top two teams in their group, and even then they'll need VIU to go winless in their two games against TRU and UBCO. Got all that?
What it all boils down to is the Blues men and women - two teams accustomed to making deep playoff runs - need Ws this weekend if they have any hope of making it to the postseason at all this year.
"What we can control is our own performance, and that's to go out there and score," said Capilano women's coach Darren Rath. "If we get two wins then we give ourselves a chance. We've got to make up four points somehow."
The Blues have played well all year but have been victimized by some poor finishing and even poorer luck, said Rath.
"We've had plenty of opportunities to score and we've hit the crossbar probably more times than anybody else in the league," he said. "We just haven't finished with what we need to do. If you don't score, you can't win."
Last weekend the Blues traveled to VIU for a crucial game but could not come up with the goals as the Mariners put themselves into the driver's seat for the group's final playoff spot with a 2-1 win.
"We hit the crossbar three times, we missed two breakaways, we hit the goalpost . . . we didn't score the goals that we needed to score," said Rath.
That the Blues women are still in the picture at all is a testament to the strength of a program that has undergone a lot of change in a short period of time. Former head coach Doug Abercrombie, at the helm for 16 very successful seasons, retired after last season and Rath stepped in to replace him. Though Rath is new at the position, he's a very familiar face on the North Shore and at Capilano. The athletic director at Argyle secondary and coach of their senior girls soccer team, Rath also spent the last nine years as an associate coach with the Capilano men. He's also a Capilano alum, having helped the Blues win a national title in 1996.
In addition to a new coach the Blues also have a team that's almost all new - only four players are back from last year's squad. There is still, however, a ton of talent on the team, said Rath.
Of the returning players, Sutherland grad Menina Colangelo anchors the midfield while Windsor grad Tasha Donoghue is the team's leading scorer. Faith Williams, another Sutherland grad, has battled back into the starting lineup after starting the year injured while New West's Kirsti Shanks has played virtually every position on the field except goalie.
The Blues also have some talented transfers pitching in. Carson Graham grad Kristi Sharp, a transfer from UBC, was the team's defensive anchor before she tore her ACL, an injury Rath called "a huge, huge loss."
Argyle grad Katie Tarrant is back at Capilano after some time away from the team. She's coming off a stint with the L.A. Strikers of the USL's WLeague.
The Blues also have another potential star in first-year striker Cherelle Khassel, a player from the Irish under-20 national team who is currently the secondleading scorer for Capilano.
Even if the talent is there the reality of Pacwest soccer - the league was formerly known as the BCCAA - is that the season is short and teams need to be firing right away. The Blues women will take one last shot at it this weekend.
"We're just going to try to do what we can on the weekend to get two wins and pray that we get a bounce our way for a change," said Rath. "Hopefully the ball off the crossbar will go into the net and put us into provincials instead of over the bar."
Capilano hosts TRU Saturday with the women playing at 1 p.m. and the men at 3 p.m. and UBCO Sunday with the women at noon and the men at 2 p.m.
aprest@nsnews.com
