Kwantlen Polytechnic University soccer teams followed a familiar pattern last weekend at Newton Athletic Park.
For the third consecutive week, the Kwantlen Eagles women’s team split a pair of PacWest games, losing 4-3 to the first place Quest Kermodes Saturday, then defeating the previously unbeaten Langara Falcons 2-0 Sunday.
The men’s team, meanwhile, is still looking for their first win of the season. The Eagles lost 2-0 to Quest Saturday, then earned a 2-2 draw with the Falcons Sunday.
In each of the first three weekends of PacWest men’s soccer play, Kwantlen has managed a loss and a tie.
The Kermodes needed just seven minutes to score the game’s first goal in Saturday women’s contest, and Kwantlen responded just two minutes later to tie the contest on a tally from midfielder Kathleen Ehman.
Quest took the lead again just before half time, and added two more scores early in the second half for a 4-1 lead.
Two late goals by Kathleen Gratz of Surrey and Dominique Lang in the last 10 minutes of play gave the Eagles a chance to earn a tie, but the rally came up a goal short.
Shanay Sangha in the first half and Yvamara Rodriguez in the second were the goal scorers in Sunday’s win over Langara. Goaltender Melina Gomez, a first-time league all-star last year, earned her second shutout of the season.
The Eagles finished the weekend with a 3-0-3 (won-tied-lost) record, good for third place in Pool A of the PacWest league, eight points ahead of the Douglas College Royals.
Three teams from each of the two pools qualify for the season-ending playoff tournament.
Kwantlen’s men’s team got off to a slow start, and gave up a pair of goals in the first 40 minutes and lost to Quest in a battle of winless teams.
Sunday against Langara, the Eagles could have climbed into third place with a win, and looked poised to do so after Marcos Da Silva staked the Eagles an early 2-0 lead with a pair of goals in the first 20 minutes.
But 10 minutes later, the Falcons had tied the game, and neither team could score in the last 60 minutes of play.
Now in last place in Pool A, the Eagles are not out of playoff contention as they are just one point back of both Langara and the Kermodes with a 0-3-3 record.
“The team is extremely disappointed with the outcome of both results this weekend,” said head coach Ajit Braich. “They (Quest and Langara) are two teams we felt we would match-up well against and unfortunately we let valuable points slip away.
“But the point gained on Sunday still keeps us in touch with the final playoff spot.”
Both Eagles teams play just once next weekend, hosting the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) Timberwolves on Saturday afternoon.
The UNBC men are in second place in Pool A with a 2-3-1 record, while the Timberwolves women are in last place having lost all six games played.
Kick-off for the women is at 12pm, and the men play at 2pm.