The Douglas Royals men’s soccer team was hoping their luck against the Vancouver Island University Mariners might change on Saturday, when it counted most.
Instead, the Mariners continued their dominance over Douglas with a 1-0 victory in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association championship match in Nanaimo. It was the third time in four meetings between the teams this season VIU emerged victorious; the other game ended in a draw.
Playing on their home turf, the Mariners locked down the defence after they opened the scoring in the 15th minute when Stefan Cukovic was able to take advantage of a miscue by Royals’ defenders and chip a shot over Douglas keeper Ryo Mizuno.
Douglas had a couple of opportunities later in the half to equalize, but Mariners’ keeper David Turkstra was able to punch away dangerous crosses.
The Royals appeared to tie the match in the second half, but the goal was nullified by an offside whistle. Otherwise, Douglas was unable to penetrate through VIU defenders Jeff Travis and Ryan McCurdy.
Midfielder Tetsuya Yoshinga was named player of the game for Douglas, while Colin Knight earned the honour for Vancouver Island.
The Royals reached the final after defeating the Keyano Huskies 2-0 in last Thursday’s semi-final, and a 2-1 victory, after penalty kicks, over Algonquin College in the national tournament’s opening round.
Safturday’s final was only the second time in CCAA history two teams from the same conference had played for the men’s soccer championship.
Women finish fifth
The Douglas Royals’ women’s soccer team finished fifth at their national championship in Halifax on Saturday.
The Royals, who went into the tournament ranked fourth in the country, lost their semi-final match, 2-0, to Algonquin College last Thursday. But they were able to rebound on Saturday with a 1-0 win over the GPRC Wolves.
Coquitlam’s Alyssa Lum scored the only goal the Royals needed, early in the second half. An earlier marker by Douglas in the first half had been disallowed after the referee ruled the ball was still moving when a free kick was chipped into the net.
The tournament was won by Elans de Garneau, which beat the Champlain Saint-Lambert Cavaliers 1-0 in the final. Algonquin won the bronze when they defeated NAIT 3-1.
