CLEVE DHEENSAW
ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½
Any questions about how the University of Victoria men’s soccer program would fare following the 34-year coaching tenure of former Canadian World Cup captain Bruce Wilson have been more than answered in the Larry Stefanek era.
Bench-boss Stefanek, who played for the Vikes under Wilson and took over from his mentor in 2022, has UVic back in the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ West playoffs and U Sports national top-10 on a consistent basis.
UVic, 9-2-4 in the regular season and ranked No. 9 nationally, opens the post-season today in the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ West playoff tournament in Edmonton against the U Sports No. 10 and defending conference-champion Mount Royal Cougars (7-2-5) of Calgary.
“We’re happy where we are as a program and are hitting consistency, which is the most important thing in sports,” said Stefanek.
The Alberta Golden Bears (10-1-3) play the Trinity Western Spartans (6-6-3) in the other quarter-final match-up based in Edmonton with today’s winners advancing to meet a conference semifinal game Sunday in the Alberta capital.
Meanwhile, 23-season UVic women’s soccer head coach Tracy David has her charges back in the playoffs as the Vikes host the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in a ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ West quarter-final on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Centennial Stadium.
“We just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing all season with the things that got us here to this place,” said David.
“But we all know playoffs are a whole different game. The Huskies are organized and disciplined and had the same record as us (7-2-5), so there’s not a lot between these two teams.”
ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ West first-team all-star Ruby Nicholas, a third-year forward from Quesnel who had eight goals and six assists, and conference second-team pick Sophie Fingarson, a third-year midfielder from Calgary, lead UVic into the post-season.
“Ruby [Nicholas] spearheads our offence and is dangerous every time she touches the ball,” said David, a former Canadian national team star and Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame inductee.
“Sophie [Fingarson] runs the show in the middle of the field and can play both ends, which was shown by her two goals in our last regular-season game.”
The winner today between the Vikes and Huskies advances to the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ West semifinals next week to be hosted by the highest remaining seeded team.
The Vikes men, meanwhile, are led by ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ West first-team all-star Fin Tugwell, a third-year defender out of Handsworth Secondary in North Vancouver whose brother Archie Tugwell plays alongside him on the UVic backline, and sophomore goalkeeper and conference first-team all-star Callum Weir from Haines Junction, Yukon.
“Allowing only three goals in the first 14 games and five in 15 games is an incredible accomplishment,” said Vikes gaffer Stefanek, of his defence and goalkeeping.
A couple of local sophomores powered the offence this season with midfielder Matthew Pearse, out of St. Andrew’s Secondary, leading the Vikes in scoring with six goals and named to the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ West second all-star team, and Mattheus Achadinha from Reynolds Secondary doing the distributing with three assists.
The Vikes beat the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns in last year’s playoff quarter-finals before falling to Mount Royal 3-1 in the semifinals, making today’s game a bit of a grudge match for the Vikes. The Cougars have had the measure of UVic over their last five head-to-head games with a 4-1 advantage, including a 1-0 win in their last meeting in September in Calgary.
“We want to be aggressive and on the front foot early because we are difficult to break down once we get the lead,” said Stefanek.
