After playing three games in five days to start league play in the Pacific Western Athletic Conference (PACWEST), the Kwantlen Polytechnic University Eagles are in a playoff position in both men’s and women’s soccer leagues.
The Eagles men’s team won two of three games to sit third in the six-team league, while the women are in fourth after a win and a pair of losses.
The KPU men began their season at home last Wednesday evening (Sept. 3), blanking the Capilano University Blues 3-0 at Newton Athletic Park.
Justin Turner-Pearce scored the winning goal, his first in PACWEST play, in the 47th minute. Alexander Escobar netted the final two goals in the last 15 minutes of play.
Surrey native David Hicks, a graduate of Clayton Heights Secondary, earned the shutout in his first game in a Kwantlen uniform.
Saturday in Coquitlam, KPU fell 3-0 to the Douglas College Royals. Spencer Deboice of Surrey tallied twice for the Royals.
Playing in Richmond Sunday, the Eagles earned their second victory of the season with a convincing 4-1 decision over the Langara Falcons.
Turner-Pearce opened the scoring just nine minutes into the game, then Marcos Teodoro da Silva upped the difference to 2-0 seven minutes later.
With 30 minutes to play, Langara cut the difference to one, before the Eagles responded with insurance goals from Kwantlen Park Secondary graduate Abdul Kulan and Holy Cross high school graduate Dalton San.
The KPU women’s team began their season with a win, before suffering two defeats over the weekend.
The Eagles topped Capilano 2-1 at home Wednesday, with Panorama Ridge Secondary graduate Harlene Uppal and Pamela Scowby netting the goals.
KPU dropped their two road games on the weekend, the first a 2-0 loss to Douglas College Saturday. They lost a two-goal decision Sunday in Richmond, falling 3-1 to the Langara Falcons in a game the Eagles led 1-0 after just 10 minutes on an own goal.
“We lost two games this weekend due to mistakes,” said KPU head coach Julie King. “We’ve got a lot on our plate for practice this week so we continue to look forward towards the bigger picture and tidy up our game.”
Both Eagles teams will play twice this weekend, hosting the Quest Kermodes (0-0-3) at noon (women) and at 2 p.m. (men in Newton, then traveling to Nanaimo to face the Vancouver Island University Mariners (3-0-0) on Sunday.