Langara men’s soccer team tops PacWest rankings as women’s team still fighting

The Langara College Falcons men’s soccer team is now first in the PacWest rankings, after winning 4-0 against both Vancouver Island University (VIU) and Capilano University at UBC Varsity Field this past weekend.

The women’s team won against VIU on Saturday, but lost to long-time rivals Capilano on Sunday, dropping to fourth place in the conference rankings.

Before Saturday’s game, Langara men’s coach Marc Rizzardo said the VIU Mariners would be “fighting for their lives.” The Falcons stuck to their word, securing a 4-0 win over the Mariners, a team they had lost to in September.

The women’s team also faced off against the VIU Mariners on Saturday. Forward Chelsea Brown scored the only goal, giving the Falcons a 1-0 victory over VIU.

“It wasn’t a very pretty game,” said Langara women’s coach Ryan Birt, “but the girls battled through and were able to get a result.”

Sunday showdown

On Sunday, the men’s team played the Capilano University Blues, whom they had tied with last month.

From the start of Sunday’s game, the Falcons put pressure on the Blues with several shots on goal. Just before half-time midfielder Carlos Marquez scored the first goal of the game.

Shortly after the half-time break, midfielder Justin Sidhu scored another goal, bringing the game to 2-0.

Team captain Mynor Campos Jr. said the second goal gave the team confidence.

“Once we got the second goal we gave ourselves a little breathing space and just started pressuring them more and more.”

With this momentum, the team continued to push and midfielder Geordie Penman scored the third goal. Midfielder Matt Hall-Stevenson scored the final goal, bringing the team to a 4-0 victory and earning them the day off from Monday’s practice.

The Falcons women’s team struggled against the Capilano University Blues on Sunday, a team they had lost to last month.

“Capilano, traditionally, is one of our biggest rivals,” said coach Birt before the game. “It’s always a difficult game to play against them.”

The difficulty showed in the first half of the game with neither side able to score despite multiple goal attempts.  In the second half, Capilano forward Andrea Standerwick scored, giving the Blues the lead.

The Falcons were unable to strike back and lost 1-0.

Women’s soccer team commented on their game

Players expressed disappointment after the game, having lost to a team that is lower in the rankings.

“I personally think it’s harder to play teams that aren’t very skilled,” said defender Katarina Tomic. “We lose our flow. We could’ve done way better.”

Forward Kelsa Lefebrve said, “They played their best game, and we probably played our worst.”

Both men and women’s soccer teams play Thompson Rivers University and UBC Okanagan next weekend.

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Reported by Gavin Fisher