Vernon’s Finlay McPhie and Enderby’s Corey Wallis played key roles in Thompson Rivers University WolfPack’s biggest win in its brief CIS men’s soccer history Sunday.
McPhie scored on a header in the 84th minute and Wallis had a fabulous game on the backline as the ‘Pack shocked the University of Victoria Vikings 4-2 in CIS Canada West play at Hillside Stadium.
It was a match which WolfPack head coach John Antulov acknowledged was the biggest win since the program joined the CIS less than two years ago.
“Without a doubt,” he said. “To beat one of the top teams in the country…they have such a storied history. For the last four games our guys have been playing well but not getting the results. It was nice to see the guys rewarded for the time they put in.”
Antulov had a heart to heart meeting with his crew after their 3-0 loss to unbeaten UBC on Saturday, a match McPhie was named TRU Bookstore/McDonald’s Leader of the Pack player of the match.
“The guys just stepped it up today,” said Antulov.
The coach also gave credit to his backline, especially the play of Braedern Burrows and Wallis.
“Braeden yesterday against UBC and today was fantastic,” said Antulov. “His partnership with Finlay is really starting to form. They are hard to beat. Steffy (Stefan Shaw) is coming back into form and Adam Swanson, as a young player, is coming in. We changed it a bit today putting Corey (Wallis) in front of him and they were fantastic.”
The WolfPack close out the regular season this weekend at Hillside as they meet up with the UNBC Timberwolves.
Sunday’s match will see the team honor their graduating players, including Wallis.
