It sure feels like the old Yogi Berry saying " Its déjà vu all over again" when it comes to the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men's soccer team and their battle for a playoff position.
The WolfPack enter the final weekend of the Canada West regular season hanging in limbo when it comes to a third straight post season berth.
The Pack will meet up with the Timberwolves at UNBC in Prince George for their final two matches. The teams will play a pair of 1 PM PDT matches on Saturday and Sunday (Oct 19-20).
DETAILS:
Thompson Rivers (4-5-5) sits in sixth position in the Pacific Division with 17 points. But two wins over UNBC would put them into contention for that fourth and final spot. Fraser Valley and UNBC are also in the mix. Fraser Valley (5-4-4) has matches Friday (Oct18) at home against UVIC and Sunday (Oct 20) at UBC.
Fraser Valley has 19 points while UNBC (4-6-3) has 15 points.
Victoria, Trinity Western and UBCO all sit tied for second through fourth spot with 22 points apiece. UBCO is idle this weekend (6-6-4).
The WolfPack will play this weekend without their top scorer.
James Fraser (4
th year, Penticton, BC). They will be without forward
Daniel Sagno (3
rd year, Winnipeg, MB) for both matches . He picked up a red card in Saturday's (Oct 12) 2-1 win over UBCO and will sit out an automatic two match suspension.
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST BETWEEN TRU AND THE TWO SIDES:
The WolfPack and Timberwolves last met in exhibition. On August 16
th on the Warner Rentals field at Hillside Stadium, Thompson Rivers beat UNBC 1-0 on a goal from
Justin Donaldson ( 5
th year, midfield, Kamloops, BC) in the 25
th minute when he launched a ball which went upper left corner on UNBC keeper Rob Goodey (4
th year, keeper, Calgary, AB).
Last season, the teams played at Hillside (Oct 6-7), The WolfPack won the first match 3-1 and the teams tied at 3 in the second.
Over the last five years, TRU has won five times, lost twice and the teams tied three times.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
TRU:
James Fraser :was a Canada West first and second star of the week before his injury. He was also Canada West male athlete of the month for September. He is still tied for second in league scoring despite missing eight matches with eight goals.
Jackson Gardner (2
nd year, keeper, Chilliwack, BC): has started 13 of 14 matches for the Pack and has a record of 3-5-5 and a goals against average of 1.54
Justin Donaldson: plays his final two career regular season matches this weekend. He has two goals and one assist and a team leading 52 shots-18 on goal.
UNBC:
Rob Goodey : He leads the Canada West in saves percentage (.803) and is fifth in goals against (13).
Owen Stewart (4
th year, midfield, Prince George, BC): leads the Timberwolves in scoring with 2 goals and six points. He has 15 shots including six on goal.
COMMENTS OF WolfPack Coach John Antulov:
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1184586634227961856
COMMENTS OF WolfPack keeper Jackson Gardner (2nd year, Chilliwack, BC):
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1184586603462823938
Both matches can be seen on a pay-per-view basis on Canada West TV presented by Co-op by accessing:
https://cw.yaretv.com/
