Dim weekend, brighter future

Royals soccer suffers a tough weekend

By Michael Sopow, Contributor

The men’s and women’s soccer teams played to some unfortunate results this past weekend. Both squads suffered hard-fought losses against Kwantlen on Saturday before gearing up for games against Quest. This defeat finally brought the seemingly invincible women’s squad’s winning streak to a halt in the PACWEST standings, as it was their first loss this year.

The women’s game on Sunday against Quest began fairly evenly as the teams came out ready to play. As the first half continued, there were some chances here and there, but nothing that really anyone could capitalize on, leaving the game at a goalless stalemate at half. In the second 45, Quest broke through for two goals and the Royals were unable to counter. Though they lost 2-0 (in a mediocrely officiated upset), it is evident that the spirit that they started off the season with hasn’t diminished just yet.

Coach Chris Laxton noted that “We played our system for long periods of time,” before continuing, “we made mistakes trying to play the system and got penalized for it. It’s unfortunate, but we’ll bounce back from it.”

Though the men’s team also lost on Saturday, they demonstrated outstanding team resolve in their Sunday game as they proceeded to recover from a 1-0 deficit against Quest University. A phenomenal set piece taken in the second half of the game by Spencer Deboice allowed Douglas College to regain their composure and apply rigorous offensive pressure to Quest’s defence, almost allowing them to capitalize once more and take home the victory.

These efforts were somewhat halted by a red card given to Douglas College’s Mark Baldisimo in the final 15 minutes of the game. Many other questionable yellow cards were given out (as if they were charitable donations). When I say, “somewhat,” I mean that with the utmost respect as a fan of soccer. Douglas College’s efforts—even though they were playing with a man down—were top tier and exemplary as they still managed to control the pace of the game to the closing whistle.

“I think we’re still trying to get into the groove of things. It’s just a matter of the guys doing the right things and buying into the system that we’re trying to implement. The good thing is we’re not even halfway through the season and we’re still in the top half of the group. It’s about taking the positives and moving forward with that,” commented assistant coach Nour Fathy.

Douglas College lost some games this weekend—so what? Both teams have demonstrated that they have the drive that it takes to be at the top of the league and from what I can see, they hold a bright future.