The Douglas College Royals have their eyes focused on what their impressive regular season record has culminated to this weekend: a bid into the playoffs. On Saturday October 30th, the Royals women will take on the VIU Mariners in the 2021-22 PACWEST championships semi-final to determine who will get the chance to play for the banner, as the Capilano Blues await to face the winner in the finals.
In their final weekend of regular season play, the Royals carried out their third-straight win against the Mariners this season with a 3-2 victory. 1st year forward Amanda Hila found the back of the net twice in the win, including what would be the game winning goal. Last Sunday, they visited the Falcons to close out their season series with a convincing 2-0 win and cemented an undefeated record against Langara in the process. Second year goalkeeper Elisha Machado obtained her third shutout of the season in the victory.
The Royals finished with a 7-1-1 record identical to the Blues but remained second in the standings due to Capilano's higher goals for and against ratio. However, Douglas still boasts the lowest goals against record in the conference with 11. The Mariners were the third-place team in the conference, accumulating a 2-6-1 record and grabbing the last playoff spot over Langara. The Royals have had a positive history against VIU this season, racking up two-straight clean sheet wins and having their third matchup of the season end in a 3-2 victory this past weekend.
Douglas' year has been extremely successful up to this point. They currently ride a 4-game win streak and achieved an undefeated regular season record (4-0-1) on home turf. Out of 9 games played, 4 of them have been clean-sheet wins. They finished 4th-place overall in the final CCAA rankings.
"It's been really positive," head coach Chris Laxton remarks. "This has been our closest group in terms of how close they are, and how much they work for each other. It was all hands on deck. It was very positive from a very young group."
First-year forward Amanda Hila finished in a 3rd place tie overall amongst PACWEST scoring leaders with 5 goals scored in 9 games played, while second-year goalkeeper Elisha Machado completed the season first amongst goalie leaders, accumulating 3 shutouts in 9 games.
On Wednesday morning, third-year defender Hannah dela Cruz, second-year forward Alicia Skirzyk, and rookie Jessica Parks were selected as PACWEST Conference All-Stars. This is the third-consecutive nomination for dela Cruz.
Heading into Saturday's semi-final, the Royals will use this week as preparation to play to their strengths to achieve success and claim a spot in Sunday's gold medal match against the Blues in the hopes of raising the PACWEST banner.
"We just need to focus on the details. When it comes to playoff soccer, it's about the set-pieces; the little moments that get away from you that make a difference. I think we've been good in most of those moments and we've been getting better and better." Laxton remarks.
"We need a 90-minute effort. Even 89 minutes won't do it for us. Hopefully we get the opportunity to do 90 minutes twice, if not more."
Once again, the Douglas Royals are set to battle the VIU Mariners in the PACWEST Championships semi-final match this Saturday at 12:30pm in Coquitlam Towncentre.
