--It is a situation that the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men's soccer team seem to be getting accustomed to. That is being the underdog going into the opening round of the Canada West playoffs.
For the second straight season, the WolfPack go into the post season as the fourth seed out of the Pacific Division.
In 2019, it is against the Mount Royal University Cougars as the teams meet Saturday (Oct 26) in Calgary. Kick off is 3 pm MDT. It can be seen on a pay-per-view basis on Canada West TV presented by Co-op.
The Cougars were the top team in the Prairie division with a 9-4-1 record while the WolfPack eeked into the playoffs in the Pacific at 6-5-5.
The WolfPack might be missing leading scorer and Canada West second team all-star
James Fraser, but they do get some extra scoring punch back into the line up this week in
Daniel Sagno (3
rd year, forward, Winnipeg, MB). The former Canadian U-17 and Vancouver Whitecap residency player returns after sitting two matches for a red card.
The teams met at Mount Royal Field in September 21
st where the Cougars rallied from a 1-0 first half deficit to beat Thompson Rivers 2-1.
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST BETWEEN TRU AND THE TWO SIDES:
Thompson Rivers opened the scoring in the 46 th minute of the first half courtesy of Fraser. The Canada West's leading scorer (at the time) pounded on a loose ball.
Mount Royal scored twice in the second half. The tying goal came in the 51
st minute by Migual Da Rocha (1
st year, midfield, Calgary, AB).
The winning goal for the Cougars came off the boot of Canada West first team all-star Mohamed El Gandour ,who converted off a corner.
The Pack played without veteran
Justin Donaldson who was serving a one match suspension for yellow cards.
That was the third ever regular season meeting between these two schools. The first one was September 23,2017. The teams tied 2-2. One of the WolfPack goals came from current co-captain Jan Pirrates (3
rd year, midfield/defender Barcelona, Spain). The match was played in Calgary.
The second was last year, September 22, 2018 at Hillside Stadium where
James Fraser scored three times,
Jason Staiger had the other goal in a 4-0 TRU shutout.
Jackson Gardner recorded the shutout for the Pack making only one save.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
TRU: James Fraser (4
th year, forward, Penticton, BC): was limited to only eight regular season matches because of injury but still finished with eight goals—fourth best in the Canada West.
Justin Donaldson (5
th year, midfield, Kamloops, BC): The Canada West second star of the week for his three goals last week in back to back wins on the road at UNBC. He led the league in shots with 62 .
Jackson Gardner (2
nd year, keeper, Chilliwack, BC): finished fourth in Canada West in saves percent wth .768. He had five shutouts.
MOUNT ROYAL: Dane Domic (1
st year,midfield, Calgary, AB) finished tied for first in the Canada West with eight assists and was second in points with 14. Had 24 shots with 11 registered on goal. He was a Canada West second team all-star.
Kyran Valley (4
th year, keeper, Calgary, AB ) was first in the Canada West in lowest goals against (9) and goals against average (0.86).
Mohamed El Gandour (2
nd year forward, Calgary, AB): started 12 of 13 regular season matches. Had 11 points including seven goals. He had 38 shots with 22 on goal.
COMMENTS OF WolfPack Coach John Antulov:
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1187105848167763969
COMMENTS OF WolfPack Midfielder Justin Donaldson :
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1187105485599625217
The Cougars had four players named as Canada West all-stars: Trevor McPhiee and El Gandour on the first team, Daniel Harrison and Domic on the second team. The WolfPack all-stars were Jan Pirrates Glasmacher (3
rd year, defender Barcelona, Spain) on the first team and Fraser on the second squad.
Glasmacher has been an all-star all three seasons he has played at TRU. He was a second team Canada West allstar in 2018-19 and a rookie all-star the year before that.
Last season, the WolfPack went into the Canada West playoffs as the fourth seed in the Pacific but knocked off Prairie #1 seed in Alberta. The score was 3-0. TRU then went to the Canada West final four where they beat Fraser Valley to win their second bronze medal.
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/
