Golden Opportunity

By Davie Wong

Week four of PACWEST soccer action is just around the corner and for the Royals, it means revisiting their week two challenge. In a replay of week two’s action, the Royals will be making the trip up north to visit the Capilano Blues. The game marks their first of the second half of the season, and big points will be up for grabs here.

            The men have a chance to claw the point differential closer while the Blues have a chance to really put themselves out of arms reach. Going into Sunday’s match, the Blues will have played the VIU Mariners. Assuming they win, they will have 16 points in the standings. That will put them six above the Mariners and the Royals, who are tied for second with 10 points a team. A win for the Blues would put them neigh out of reach, with a nine point lead with 5 games remaining.

            A win for the Royals will mean a whole lot more. The team will decrease the point gap to just three, and have a real shot of finishing the season in the top two. But there are more than just points up for battle in this week’s matchup. A win against the Blues would be a huge morale boost for the team.

            The first half of the Blues season has shown that the team is amongst the elite in the country. In fact, according to the CCAA rankings, they are the second best team in the country. They also have the stats to prove it. To say that their offense is explosive would be an understatement. The team has tallied 14 goals in their first five games. Third-year forward Keith Jackson will need to be a priority lockdown target for the Royals. In five games, the striker has scored five goals, and leads the PACWEST in goals.

            Defensively, the Blues are no slouches either. They’ve only allowed three goals in the five games that they’ve played and two of those have been against the Royals. Something is going have to give on Sunday if the Royals want a win. They either have to lock the Blues offense down or outscore them. Both are daunting tasks, but if anyone has proven themselves able over the years, it would be the Royals.

            The women face the Blues once again as well. The last time these two teams met, it resulted in a 1-1 tie with both teams really cancelling each other out. Since then, both teams have had some trouble. Week three of PACWEST action wasn’t too kind to either side.

            The Blues lost their week three game against Langara in a dominating fashion, falling to them 2-0. They won’t have the best time trying to bounce back as they tackle the VIU Mariners, who will likely run them ragged in a heavy-weight tilt. The Royals will face them the day after, giving a hefty fitness advantage to the Royals.  

            But the Royals have had their own struggles of late as well. A loss to the VIU Mariners, and a tie to the Quest Kermodes highlight the team’s week three struggle. Their drop from 8th to 11th on the CCAA Power Rankings will be something the team will be looking to rectify as soon as possible.

            All in all, both teams are quite similar to each other. Scoring has come from a variety of players for both teams, and anyone on the field has proven to be a scoring presence. Defensively, both teams have shown their flaws. Sunday’s match will be about which team can exploit the other team’s flaws better. The team that can do that best will walk away will the three points.