Alumni come back for exhibition game

Kwantlen’s Surrey campus gymnasium was filled with familiar faces Saturday night as former Eagles swooped in for a friendly game against this year’s basketball team.

Friendly quickly turned fierce as the game was filled with fouls, time-outs and a real battle on the scoreboard.

In the end, the current men’s team proved that they will be just fine, with a 105-92 win over the alumni.

Eagles fall 2-0 to top-ranked Blues

The Kwantlen Eagles suffered a 2-0 loss to the Capilano Blues Sunday, as British Columbia’s two undefeated men’s college soccer teams met for the first time this year.

The patient Capilano squad (6-0-0) had a hard time securing solid chances against the defensively-minded Eagles (3-2-1), until midway through the second half when a momentary lapse allowed Milad Rhamati to weave to the end line before tapping a centring pass to Corey Birza for the winning goal.

“Today wasn’t about winning or losing, today was about respect, and I think we achieved that,” said Kwantlen head coach Vincent Alvano.

After Capilano’s Alan McIndoe scored in the 34^th minute, Kwantlen continued to stack their defense against the top team in the country, preventing any solid chances but at the cost of scoring opportunities for themselves. 

“We’re too young, too inexperienced, and too naïve. So we know that we’re going to make mistakes and give up possession, and we accept that. By accepting that we maximize our strengths and minimize our weaknesses,” Alvano said.

The Eagles’ Justin Lodge was the lone striker for much of the game, consistently fielding clearing kicks in the midst of four Capilano defenders.

After the Blues’ widened their lead to 2-0, Lodge dropped back to midfield in favour of two fresh Kwantlen attackers, Sasa Plavsic and Jethro Kambere.

Despite a tough second half, Capilano capitalized on one of their only chances, showing just how dangerously efficient they were. The only thing preventing the Blues from notching an additional goal was an amazing breakaway save by keeper Michael Newton.

“It’s not how hard you fall, it’s how fast you get up. And I guess the character of this team will be told next game… I told them from the beginning of the season that this team was going to be defined not by the way they won, but by they would lose. So I’ll get my answer in a week,” said Alvano.

The Eagles defeated Vancouver Island University 3-2 on Saturday. Their next match is at home Saturday against fourth-ranked Thompson Rivers University.

B’ball teams prepped for Sept. 26 openers

The Kwantlen Eagles are getting ready to hit the court on Friday, Sept. 26, when both the men’s and the women’s basketball teams will play the first games of the new season, at the Kwantlen gymnasium in Surrey 

The women will play an exhibition game against the Douglas Royals at 6 p.m., and the men will be playing a Blaze exhibition game at 8 p.m.

It is coach Gary Pawluk’s and assistant coach Ivan Adrian’s first season coaching the women.

“It’s been a terrific situation so far and hopefully it will continue,” said Pawluk in a phone interview.

The women have played some competitive teams in the off-season, said Pawluk. “Competition in the league is strong and getting the girls to compete is always a challenge.”

Pawluk has been coaching basketball for three decades, and is enjoying the challenges of coaching a new team.“We’ve got a good blend as far as personnel wise,” he said and one of the challenges is to “get that team work and team chemistry to get to the point where we are growing and developing and getting better.”

The women’s team has 13 players, five of them rookies and eight returning players.

The men’s team is also looking forward to the season.

Hugh Lynn has been the assistant coach of the men’s team for four years, along with head coach Bernie Love, who has been coaching for seven. Gino Missana and Kevin Van Buskirk are first-year assistant coaches.

Lynn said he would like the team to come together with a “winning, positive attitude and realistic expectations.” 

He would like the team, who he said was in the lower half of the league, to try and “move up the ladder,” so they can “make the play offs and do the best that we can.”

He said the first week and a half of practices have shown some pleasant surprises, such as returning forward Mike Davis and new-to-the-team guard Omid Davini, who is “looking awful good awful early.”

Davis, who is returning to the team after taking time off to travel, said so far the team has great chemistry.

“We are a young team…we are fairly new to each other still, and I think over time it will come together really well, there might be some growing pains, but we’ll be okay.”

Only three of the 13 players on the team are returning players.

Davis says he is looking forward to playing Capilano College. “They play a fast-paced game and it’s a lot of fun to play that way,” and that he would like the Eagles to make the playoffs.

The season will culminate with provincial championships, Feb. 26-28, 2009, at Capilano College for both the men and women.

Eagles’ Lodge seals victory over Falcons

The Kwantlen Eagles Men’s soccer team continued its undefeated streak into the second week of the season with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the Langara Falcons Saturday.

The come-from-behind victory was capped with a spectacular breakaway goal by Justin Lodge, his second of the game.

“I’m proud that they won. I’m proud of the character that they showed in terms of never giving up, but playing hard and playing smart are two different things, and today I don’t think we played that smart and that’s why we got two goals against,“ said head coach Vincent Alvano.

After driving home a rebound for an early lead, the momentum was on Langara’s side, but the period drew to a close with both teams battling for control of the game.

Early in the second half, Lodge sprinted into the clear and tied the score 1-1, but minutes later Langara capitalized on some defensive confusion and regained the lead with a quick strike.

Later in the half Alvano was ejected, but the absence of their coach seemed to light an offensive fire under the Eagles, and not long after a deflected shot by Ryan Sidhu floated over Langara’s off-balance keeper for the tying goal.

With the game deadlocked, the Eagles continued to put the pressure on, and with minutes to go Lodge single-handedly waltzed through the Langara defense for the winner.

“The character of the team, for a young team like this, first year, I can’t be more proud of what they did. I just wish that they would have a more professional attitude towards the game. Their naivete and inexperience shows, but that’s my responsibility. A team’s behavior is a reflection of the coach’s attitude, and it’s my job to make them play like professionals.“ said Alvano.

The 2-1-0 Eagles continue their season on the road Sunday at Coquitlam Town Center against the fourth-ranked Douglas Royals.

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