Eagle Watch

Meet Kyle. He likes writing about sports. He also believes in a no-holds-barred approach when talking about it. Beware, it’s time for ‘Eagles Watch.’

By Kyle Benning [sports Bureau Chief]

The Kwantlen women’s soccer team picked up their second consecutive provincial title.

Those are the only two banners up in the gym right now, but at least one Eagles’ team has tasted glory.

The women have had to adjust to a new coach, but at the provincials, it looked like they had played under Gordon Smith for years.

In their three provincial matches, the Eagles scored 11 times and conceded none. Their goal difference proves that this team deserves to be fighting for a national title.

Playing three days on the trot is difficult. And the fact that the Eagles managed to beat Vancouver Island University on

Saturday, a squad who had a first-round bye, was a positive sign.

Something that worked in their favour was the home support. Kwantlen hosted the tournament, which was played at Newton Athletic Park, plenty of fans cheered on the Eagles.

Even though they didn’t finish at the top of their division, the Eagles had their best season finishing with eight wins, one draw and three losses.

After the Eagles won their semifinal game against VIU, I asked Smith what his game plan would be if his team had to play the UBCO Heat in the final.

Kwantlen struggled against the Heat this season, losing two of their three games to the side that finished undefeated and were ranked first in the province entering the championship.

Some might say that the Eagles lucked out because they didn’t have to play the strongest team. I disagree with that.

If the Heat were the strongest team in this tournament, they wouldn’t have taken their semifinal match against Langara so lightly.

Rookie keeper Melina Gomez, skipper Brittany McNeil and star striker Shanay Sangha were named in the BCCAA First Team All-Stars.

The captain also won the Best Defender award after being very solid at the back throughout the entire tournament.

Shanay Sangha won the Best Forward and Most Valuable Player awards. She can read the game very well and seems to fit in perfectly just behind the striker.

I am sure the women will be looking to improve on their bronze medal from last year’s national championship at this year’s tournament in Edmonton.

One major talking point over the weekend of the championship was the unfinished stand on the new pitch. I overheard so many conversations about the “stadium” not being complete. Personally, I think it is something that makes the entire university look unprepared.

One man was talking about how we knew that we were going to host the tournament this year, so there is no excuse to not have everything complete on time. And I, for one, have to agree with him.

The main reason Kwantlen hosted the provincials was because of the new field.

One thing that would have made more sense is if the construction on the field was complete before Kwantlen decided to host the provincials, or if construction began sooner.

Hopefully this is something that the university learns from and takes into consideration for future events.