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EDITOR JUAN RAMIREZ RESTREPO

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17,2022 |

THE VOICE

7

Langara Falcons’ Athos Michellepis de Siqueira and VIU Mariners’ Travis Brown struggle to hold the ball at the .- Events Centre on Nov. 12. a/veR KERO PHOTO

Falcons edge VIU in fight for 5th

Team says it wasnt the result it wanted but was glad to win its last match

= By SETH FORWARD

he Langara Falcons
managed to save face
Saturday, capping a disap-
pointing tournament with
a nervy 4-3 victory over the VIU
Mariners in a battle for fifth place at
the CCAA men’s soccer nationals.

Considered medal contenders
when they arrived in Langley, B.C.,
both teams under-performed at the
championship.

The Falcons, who lost the
PACWEST final to VIU and only
secured a nationals berth as hosts,
had topped the PACWEST regu-
lar season standings. The Mariners
— national champs in 2017 and
silver medalists in 2019 — had been
counting on the team’s adaptability
and teamwork to land them on the
podium again.

“It’s good to finish as a team,”
midfielder Takumi Ota said, but
added the results were still “not what
we were looking for.”

In an action-packed rematch of the
PACWEST final, the Falcons pulled
ahead early, but a pair of late Mari-
ners goals provided a dramatic fight
to the finish.

After 26 minutes, Mariners’
winger Hirotaka Nishikawa finished
a dazzling run with an excellent finish
to open the scoring.

The Falcons were finally rewarded
for their dominant play two minutes
later, tying the game after a blister-
ing shot by Athos Michellepis de
Siqueira hit the post, leaving Ota an
open net to score.

‘Two minutes into the second half,
midfielder Ben Crowther dispatched
a first-time shot into the bottom
corner, giving the Falcons a 2-1
advantage.

In the 57th minute, a smooth
Falcons counter attack orchestrated
by Ota was finished by de Siqueira,
who slipped the ball past VIU goal-
keeper Matteo Chirico to extend the
hosts’ lead to 3-1.

Ota then breezed past the VIU

defense in the 75th minute, finishing
his run with a deflected shot which
looped into the net.

In the 79th minute, VIU striker
Vasilis Bagiopoulos showed his class,
netting his fourth goal of the tourna-
ment to make it 4-2.

He then doubled his tally from a
corner only two minutes later to set
up a nerve-wracking final 10 minutes
for the Falcons.

The Mariners battled hard to try to
complete a late comeback.

“The boys always want to win all
the time,” said VIU head coach Kevin
Lindo.

Mariners captain Michael
Heppelle was given his second yellow
card right before the final whistle.
Lindo acknowledged, “it got a bit
testy.”

However, he said the two teams
have a “mutual respect” for each other.

Both teams are young with plenty
of potential. Lindo said he “sees
success and longevity,” in the Mari-
ners future.

preiirds diay

gens thar give bye tines

VIU Mariners’ Hirotaka Nishikawa moves in on Langara's opposing defensive
line. River KERO PHOTO

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