Mariners Face Royals For CCAA Gold

For the second time in CCAA history a pair of PACWEST men’s soccer teams will duke it out for the National gold medal when the Douglas Royals face the VIU Mariners today. The last time two BC teams faced each other was in 1998 when the host University College of the Cariboo faced the Malaspina Mariners and defeated them 2-0 in overtime.

It is the third time that a hosting PACWEST team will play for a gold medal.  Previous hosts playing for gold were UCC in 1998 and Langara in 2000.

The Royals, who won the PACWEST banner beat the Keyano Huskies 2-0 behind goals from Edris Najm and Race Williams on Thursday night. It’s their third appearance in the gold medal game.  In 2002 the Royals lost to the Algonquin Thunder 5-4 in PKs after the game ended 1-1 after regulation and overtime. In 2005, the Royals faced Algonquin again, this time soundly defeating the Thunder 2-0 to win the Gold.

The VIU Mariners are hosting the nationals and are back in the gold medal game for the first time since 2014 when they took silver.  VIU also took silver in 1998 and 2012 but won gold in 1983 and 2010.  Thursday night they destroyed the NAIT Ooks 6-1 behind a pair of goals each from Shun Takano and Ryan McCurdy.

During the regular PACWEST season they met three times. The Mariners won twice and they tied a game 3-3 with the Mariners outscoring the Royals 8-4.

WATCH the CCAA gold medal game HERE this afternoon at 4:30pm.