Royals Advance

Story courtesy of Matt Carter – VIU Mariners Athletics

Semifinal Saturday kicked off the PACWEST soccer championships with a fantastic matchup between the Douglas Royals and the host VIU Mariners, that saw the Royals squad advancing to the PACWEST final thanks to two late goals.

Perfect weather conditions—sunny with a slight breeze—allowed both teams to run with pace while sizeable crowds for both teams cheered and rang cowbells with every close play.

A big save in the third minute by VIU keeper Melanie Osborne charged up the crowd as Douglas came with pressure in the opening seven minutes, but then the Mariners returned the favour heading into the 10-minute mark, punctuated by a Taylor Kinley header that just missed the far post.

In the 15th minute, Douglas’ co-rookie of the year, Anna Klaver-Valdez, broke in on a perfectly placed through-ball and danced past the VIU keeper, only for her shot to narrowly miss the far post and two lunging VIU defenders.

Two glorious chances in the 19th minute as VIU’s Jami Hartwich hit the crossbar and Jade Dillabough hit the goal post in consecutive shots three seconds apart.

In the 31st minute, the ball deflected to Royals’ Sarah Svetic right in front of the VIU goal and a sliding save from defender Mya Creed knocked the ball out of harm’s way. The Royals had a few dangerous attacks down the flanks, but the score remained 0-0 at the halftime break.

Teams played things a bit tighter to open the second half, a Saki Meshida header coming close ten minutes in. Then in the 65th-minute a sliding block on a close VIU chance from Pak Tung Tsang brought big responses from the crowd.

The Royals scored what would end up as the winning goal in the 86th minute as Christine Singh cut in towards the goal and hit a perfect strike to the top right corner of the VIU net.

The goal changed the complexity of the game as the Mariners pushed the envelope looking for the equalizer. As the official called for three minutes of extra time, Klaver-Valdez broke free and scored on a counter-attack to put the Royals up 2-0 moments before the final whistle.

Meshida (VIU) and Klaver-Valdez were named players of the game for their respective teams. The Royals move on to the PACWEST final against the Capilano Blues on Sunday at 2:30 PM.