Mariners Moving On

Story courtesy of Matt Carter

The host and #3 seeded VIU Mariners are off to the PACWEST final after upsetting the Langara Falcons in the Conference semi-final with a 1-0 win.

With clear skies and no breeze, conditions were perfect for the Mariners and Falcons to play a quick game. The Mariners came out fast on home turf, forcing outstanding saves from Langara’s keeper Blake Charlesworth in the sixth and eighth minutes.

The game’s only goal came in the 21st minute after VIU’s Grayson Chalifoux ran onto a Matthew Coburn header into the box and weas brought down for a VIU penalty kick. Douglas Mtatabikwa made a stutter-step approach and made no mistake with the shot to give VIU a 1-0 lead.

Mariners’ keeper Ben Chamberlin showed he was also up for a big game tonight with an outstanding save off a close-in Langara header in the 27th minute that was labelled for the top of the net.

Langara had another golden chance in the 35th minute after a foul was called close to the top of the VIU box, but Langara’s David Rodriguez Zegarra fired it over the wall and off the crossbar.

With fans on both sides loudly expressing their views on every foul call, the referee was kept busy, giving first half yellow cards to Langara’s Henrique Claros and VIU’s Travis Brown.

One of the final plays of the first half was a VIU free kick in the 43rd minute, but Charlesworth was in perfect position to stop a low rocket from Michael Heppelle.

As the moon came up and the lights came on at the start of the second half, the temperature dropped considerably, and the Falcons upped their pressure. They had the majority of chances through the next 20 minutes until a pair of close slots for the Mariners in the 65th minute.

In the 84th minute, Charlesworth made an outstanding diving save and VIU’s Maxwell Dadzie put the rebound over the bar to keep it at 1-0.

Six minutes of added time—with Langara and VIU fans frantically chanting against one another—did not result in any golden opportunities, and VIU closed out the 1-0 win.

In addition to facing the #1 Douglas Royals in Sunday’s semifinal at 5:15 p.m., the Mariners will join the Royals, at the CCAA national tournament in Windsor, Ontario, November 8-11 as the PACWEST has a wild card berth.

Heppelle was named the Player of the Game for the Mariners while Taku Ota was the Falcons Player of the Game.