Kwantlen varsity men’s soccer: Eagles lose tough one
On Sept. 17, the Kwantlen Eagles headed to Prince George for their second game of the season.
By Dominic Sramaty [sports bureau chief]
On Sept. 17, the Kwantlen Eagles headed to Prince George for their second game of the season.
The men came into the game 0-0-1, losing their first game of the season to the same University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves.
The atmosphere amongst the team was exceptional as they were hungry for their first win, and revenge. Coach Ajit Braich was confident in the players’ abilities.
However, the game did not begin well for the Eagles. UNBC struck quickly, winning a corner kick in the first few minutes of the game. Afterwards, the Timberwolves continued to lay on large amounts of offensive pressure.
Number 9 Rakan Alquwa came in strong down the right wing and shot on net. The ball took an unfortunate bounce off lunging defender Cody Dunn and sent the ball opposite of the Eagles’ keeper Tom Johnston.
The unlucky goal woke up the disheartened Eagles as they immediately began to lay on the offensive pressure.
Jacob “Big Cat” Staiheine, 18, began the offensive onslaught with a hard shot from outside the 18-yard box.
Connor Sheepwash delivered a dangerous cross from the right flank soon thereafter, that was collected by the keeper.
The confidence began to rise and the Eagles kept pressing on with numerous scoring chances.
The Eagles best chance to score in the first half came off Ryan Sidhu’s free kick to Kevin Coles, whose wide open shot bounced off the keeper to Sheepwash, who shot wide.
The second half started in favour of the Timberwolves. Rakan Alquwa blasted a shot past the defence only to be saved by a sprawling Amraj Lally, who substituted on for Johnston at half time.
Soon after, the Timberwolves gained a free kick in the Eagles defensive zone. Kellen Strobl, 5, caught the Eagles off-guard, taking a shot while the Eagles were still being told to back the defensive wall 10 yards. The Timberwolves scored on the play.
Outraged at the official’s mistake, the Eagles protested strongly.
An emotionally enraged Ryan Sidhu, 11, drew the yellow card soon afterwards on a careless defensive play.
The rattled Eagles could not gain composure.
Mid-half number 10, Daniel Dell, crossed the ball to a streaking Travis Hicks who scored off a laser of a shot.
From then on, the Eagles were a team possessed laying on large amounts of offensive pressure. The Eagles outshot the Timberwolves four to six.
Late in the second half, Kyle Parkash got a step on the UNBC defender and was able to deliver the perfect lead pass to open Jethro Kambere who scored with ease past the Timberwolves keeper.
UNBC put the last nail in the coffin after Lally misplayed the ball off a Timberwolves through-ball. It played right to Rakan Alquwa who placed the ball in the empty net.
The Eagles rebounded with more offensive pressure, however, it was not enough. The Timberwolves took this one 4-1.
Post-game, Coach Braich was proud of the effort telling the boys that, “if [they] keep this up, the results will come.”
As is expected with a rookie-dominated team, a lot of growing room is possible. The undisciplined Eagles showed a lot of potential Saturday, and should be confident going into the official stadium opener next Saturday at Newton Athletic Park versus the Thompson Rivers University Wolf Pack.
