‘Worst performance’ threatens men’s soccer playoff hopes

The Eagles found themselves in tough against the previously winless Heat Saturday, which could spike their playoff hopes. (David Pires photo)

The Eagles, who are in a tight three-way race for the final playoff spot, fell 3-1 at home to the previously winless Heat in what may have been a must-win game.

“This was the worst performance of the season, bar none,” said Kwantlen Coach Vincent Alvano. “I’ve seen in it so many times. This is the typical high school mentality where you play your heart out against a better team, and when it comes to a team you feel is beneath you, you stop competing.”

Kwantlen fell behind early when UBC-O’s Austin Ross curled a free kick into the top left corner of the goal, swinging the momentum to the Heat. UBC-O continued to press the Kwantlen defense, and in the 39th minute forward Lars Seitzinger was fouled near the goal, resulting in a penalty kick that put the Heat up 2-0.

Early in the second half, fresh substitute Sasa Plavsic wired a long free kick off the bottom of the crossbar and into the net, sparking an offensive resurgence, and pulling the Eagles back within striking distance.

Despite their renewed vigor, Kwantlen failed to convert any of their many opportunities into points, and as the clock ticked their desperation began to show.

In the 87th minute, after a possible hand ball went uncalled directly in front of the head referee, the Eagles stood frozen as Heat midfielder Tom Brook easily put the nail in the coffin on the resulting 3-on-2 rush.

“Those are the type of games that get coaches fired, or make a coach resign, because you feel so responsible that you cannot motivate your kids against a team you should be able to dominate,” Alvano said. “This is the team that held Capilano to a 1-1 tie in the first half, and 0-0 against Douglas, and we fall behind 2-0 against a team that hasn’t even won a game.”

Despite the loss, Kwantlen still has a chance at the playoffs because Langara lost its match to second-ranked Douglas College, and VIU lost to top-ranked Capilano.

If the 15-point Eagles win on Sunday, and 16-point Langara loses or ties, Kwantlen will squeak into the playoffs because they hold the tiebreaker over 15-point VIU.

Kwantlen’s final game of the regular season is a 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20, rematch against UBC-O at Tamanawis Field in Surrey.

Eagles outlast Quest in rough, rowdy tournament action

Brighton Gbazaria, Eagles guard, competes with a Quest player for the ball during Kwantlen’s second game of the Blues Classic Basketball Tournament. The annual tournament, in its 14th year, was held at Capilano University this weekend. (Sandy Buemann photo)

Eagle Sam Asiedu, a first-year guard called it an ugly game. “There were bodies flying everywhere…it was scrappy, really scrappy,” said Asiedu.

The score was tied 50-50 with six minutes left in the fourth quarter, and with three minutes to go and a score of 58-52 for the Eagles, the tension was palpable. 

Nick Lefleur, a guard for the Eagles, was able to bring up the score two points to 62 with 44 seconds left in the game to the delight of the cheering crowd.

First-year guard Omid Davani takes a tumble as a Quest player goes in for a shot during the game, which was described as scrappy by fellow guard Sam Asiedu. (Sandy Buemann photo)

Quest scored the first five points of the game but by the end of the first quarter the Eagles were one point up. 

The second quarter saw big gains and the Eagles were up eight points after a series of quick breakaways, but Quest came back, adding five points in a matter of minutes to chants of “defense” from the Kwantlen supporting crowd. Kwantlen then finished the period off with a shot, adding three points in a matter of two seconds. 

The third quarter saw a spectacular fall by Omid Davani, a first-year guard, and ended in a 46-46 tie after Quest added three points in the last 18 seconds. 

Coach Van Buskirk was hoping for three wins in the tournament, but the Eagles lost their game against Columbia Bible College, 71-64, Sunday morning.

The Eagles had won the first game, against Camosun College, by a one-point margin, 62-61.

Next week the men are off to the Douglas College Tournament.

Profile: Taminder Dhaliwal

(First in a series of occasional profiles of Kwantlen Eagles’ team members.)

Taminder Dhaliwal

Name: Taminder Dhaliwal
Number: 15
Position: Point guard
Age: 20
Zodiac: Cancer
Favourite basketball player: Michael Jordan. “I like Jordan because he makes everybody around him better.”

 

Taminder Dhaliwal of the Eagles basketball team is a third-year criminology student at the Surrey campus. Like every student athlete, she combines post-secondary learning with a demanding sports time table.

“I really don’t know how I do it, but I guess you have to take it day-by-day,” said the 20-year-old point guard, who worked vigorously on her game in the off-season.

“Our goal this season is to make a difference,” she said. The team looks to improve this season to match Kwantlen’ new university status, and improve on its record from last season.

Asked what to expect from her this season, No. 15 said fans should look for her jump shots and passing. “I have been working on my jumpers, and definitely would be setting up plays.” She also talks about being vocal and more aggressive on the floor to help her team. “We have a pretty good team, and if we continue to do the little things, there is no doubt we will go very far.”

She’s also looking forward to finishing her degree in criminal justice. “I want to work with the criminal justice system, and help shape the future of our youth.”

Sunday draw ‘almost like loss’ for women’s soccer team

Kwantlen Eagles found the going tough in their Sunday 0-0 draw with Douglas College. (Sandy Buemann photo)

Nobody scored on Sunday Oct.5, as the Kwantlen women’s soccer team played the Douglas Royals to a 0-0 draw on their home turf at the Tamanawis field in Surrey.

The Eagles may have been tired after a big win the day before against the Langara Falcons, during which Head Coach Vladimir Samozvanov said the team was more alive.

Still, Samozvanov said the result of the Sunday’s game was positive. The women had a few chances during both the first and second half and continued to try their best.

The teams battled back and forth on the sunny fall afternoon with plenty of action in the middle of the field as each side played tug-o-war for control. What ground was gained for either side did not seem to kept for long.

In the second half of the game, Kwantlen used more of the field. Near the end of the second half, shouts of encouragement mingled with groans of disappointment could be heard as Reem Knyfatty, a first-year forward took a shot that drew the Douglas keeper out of the net. Jennifer Starheim, a Douglas forward, then took the play back to the Kwantlen end with a powerful kick.

“There were more passing sequences in the second half,” said Natalie Therrien who is playing her first year of defense, but “collectively the work ethic wasn’t there.”

She said the team was getting way better and “beat the best” when they played the Falcons Saturday. The game Sunday felt like a lose because the teams in the league are neck-in-neck and, “If we don’t get the points from the easy teams than taking points from the hard teams doesn’t really matter,” Therrien said.

The Royals and the Eagles each earned one point for the tie. The teams played two regular games last season, with one tie and one 2-0 loss for the Eagles

Next weekend, the women play the Vancouver Island University Mariners in Nanaimo.

Women drop tough first exhibition hoop game

Two members of the women's Eagles fight for the ball during their season opening exhibition game against Douglas College. (Alex Nkrumah photo)

The Kwantlen Eagles women’s basketball team didn’t go down without a fight as they lost 51-44 to the Douglas Royals in their first exhibition game of the season at the Kwantlen Surrey campus Friday night.

Emotions were running high at the end of the fourth quarter, as the Royals added 12 points to their score and the Eagle’s Head Coach Gary Pawluk was asked to leave the gym after asking the referee for “a moment of your time.” Assistant Coach Ivan Adrian said that “we liked the intensity that they showed in the fourth quarter” and the “fact that they weren’t giving up.”

The game began with a bang as the Royals scored a two-point basket in the first minute and Kwantlen’s up-and-coming guard Jessica Williams scored within the first two minutes, bringing the score to 2-1 for the Royals.

The back-and-forth action continued with strong passing from the Eagles. The fast-paced offense and defense by both teams resulted in an even match for most of the quarter, which was ending with a two-point lead for the Eagles until the Royals tied the score to 9-9 with 38 seconds left. The Royal’s Cynthia Lawson scored again with one second left in the period, putting Douglas in the lead 11-9.

The Royals took their lead into the second period but the quick passes by the Eagles resulted in a one-point lead of 22-21 going into the third quarter. The score went back and forth, and the third ended 37-34 for the Royals, after Koral Fraser scored three for the Eagles with 23 seconds left in the third quarter.

Assistant coach Adrian said the team had set a goal to work on their rebounding, “especially on our own boards,” but that they didn’t meet their expectations.

“Our rebounding needs to improve in order for us to be a successful team.”

Guard Taminder Dhaliwal, returning for her third year on the team, agrees. She also said the team was slow to start but they did a good job “hustling back.”

Also returning player forward Michela Fiorido says the team is “definitely improving.”

The next game for the Eagles will be against the Langara Falcons on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 6 p.m. in Vancouver.

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