The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack netted back-to-back shutouts over the UNBC Timberwolves in Canada West men’s soccer play last weekend at Hillside Stadium.
TRU, now 2-7-1, blanked the T-Wolves 1-0 Friday, and then 3-0 Saturday. UNBC dipped to 3-9.
“I think confidence does wonders,” said WolfPack head coach John Antulov. “You could see how much yesterday’s 1-0 win helped them. We had a little bit of a lapse in the first half but we got our second wind in the second half.
“Our defending was fantastic. When we get guys like Oriol (Torres, 4th year, forward, Barcelona) scoring a couple of goals it’s great. Hopefully we can continue it going forward.”
The WolfPack opened the scoring in the 18th minute when Cole Hooper (midfielder, Kamloops) buried the rebound off Torres’ penalty kick inside the 18-yard box.
Torres tallied twice more for the WolfPack in the second half, scoring in the 51st and 67th minutes.
Antulov praised Torres’ play, along with midfielder Satinder Dhaliwal (2nd year, Surrey) and Logan Zimmerman (1st year, midfield, Kamloops)for their play.
The WolfPack, featuring Enderby’s Corey Wallis and Vernon products Finlay McPhie and Mike Bennett, will close their inaugural Canada West season this weekend with a home-and-home series with the UBC Okanagan Heat. The first match goes Saturday, 2 p.m. at Hillside Stadium.
“UBCO has played great this year,” said Antulov. “It is nice to have the confidence of two straight wins going in.
“It is that Kelowna-Kamloops rivalry and it won’t take much to get the guys motivated. We have to play like we did this weekend: strong at the back and get a couple of goals.”
