First Place Showdown

Saturday afternoon the women’s PACWEST soccer Game of the Week is a first place showdown when the second place Capilano Blues visit the #1 Douglas Royals with just one point separating the two in the standings.

The Blues are the hottest team in the PACWEST winning four straight games and haven’t allowed a goal outscoring the opposition 11-0. Adrianna Babinski has led the offence with three goals on this win streak while Sophia Goto has scored twice, both last game. Keeper Brittney Roussy has been on fire stopping all 16 shots she has faced.

The Royals have won three of their last four and are coming off a tie at VIU last weekend. Their offensive attack has been great this season with a Conference leading 23 goals. Sam Kell has a Conference high eight goals in 11 games while teammate Mikayla Hamilton has tallied six.

On the backend the Royals are confident in platooning keepers Alexa Gazzola and Nicole Scott who have a goals against average under one. They will need to be against a Blues offence that is riding high.

"We are excited for the challenge that Saturday's game will bring,” says Royals head coach Chris Laxton. “These types of games really galvanize these players, as they have learned to relish and embrace these moments over the last three seasons. It will be a good test to see how this group of players responds to this opportunity against a tough opponent in Capilano before playoffs begin."

In the previous two games these schools have split the seasonal series but the Royals have outscored the Blues 5-3. In the eight goals scored in the series, they have been tallied by eight different players.

Offensively Babinski has been the driving force with seven goals on the season, including three in the last four games. Rookie Claire Ye has chipped in with three goals and four different players have at least two apiece showing the balanced scoring.

The Blues have a game in hand on the Royals and head coach Dennis Kindel says "We are looking to have another strong weekend with yet another hard double header and to play some good soccer in preparations for provincials."

Kick-off on Saturday is set for 1:00pm at Towne Centre in Coquitlam.