Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s two soccer teams will be looking for their first victories of the season this weekend, after both the men’s and women’s squads were winless in a pair of games last week.
The Kwantlen Eagles men’s team lost 3-1 to the Langara Falcons in Vancouver last Saturday, then played to a 1-1 tie with the Quest Kermodes Sunday in Squamish.
The women tied 1-1 against Langara, then dropped a 3-2 decision to the Kermodes in PACWEST (Pacific Western Athletic Association) play on Sunday.
Monika Phunal of Surrey allowed the Kwantlen women to earn a point Saturday, scoring a tying goal with 10 minutes to play to get the draw with the Falcons.
The Eagles had a pair of leads in Sunday’s contest on goals by Chelsey Lal of North Delta and Richmond’s Shanay Sangha, but Quest answered each score with one of their own before scoring the winning goal in the 60th minute.
The men’s team fell behind early in their game Saturday against Langara, trailing 2-0 before Murtada Almatrood netted the first Eagles goal. The Falcons added an insurance goal late in the game.
Sunday in Squamish, Marcos Teodoro da Silva gave Kwantlen an early lead. But a young Eagles team couldn’t hang on and settled for a 1-1 tie.
“As much as our first league game versus Langara showed inexperience, our second game against Quest showed that Kwantlen has gained some big time players for the future,” said Eagles head coach Srdjan Djekanovic. “We played high tempo, attacking soccer that we want to be a trademark for the Eagles but were unlucky not to have scored that deserving second and decisive goal.”
Both the men and women play twice at home this weekend at Newton Athletic Park, as Kwantlen hosts the UBC-Okanagan Heat on Saturday, and the Thompson Rivers University Wolf Pack on Sunday. Kickoff both days is noon for the women, and 2 p.m. for the men.
