Thursday, Oct. 25: Cascades (5-5-4) vs. Mount Royal Cougars (6-6-2) at Trinity Western, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 27: Cascades-Cougars winner at No. 1 Trinity Western Spartans (12-2-0), 5 p.m.
Webcasts: CanadaWest.tv
For the second straight season, the Cascades women's soccer team find itself in a quarter-final quadrant close to home – just down the road at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C. The Cascades, seeded No. 5 in the Pacific, take on Prairie No. 4 Mount Royal in the first round on Thursday evening, with the winner advancing to face the host Spartans (Pacific No. 1) in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
Last year, UFV defeated the Lethbridge Pronghorns 1-0 in the opening round, only to fall to the host Spartans by an identical 1-0 score in the quarters.
The Cascades have first-hand familiarity with their first-round opponent. They hosted the Cougars on Oct. 12, and earned a 1-0 victory on Harneet Dadrao's goal in the 79th minute.
"It was a tough game last time we played them, and it came down to a late goal for us," UFV head coach Rob Giesbrecht noted. "They scared us at moments in the second half – they hit the bar once – so we enter this game knowing we'll have to be sharp, executing well on set pieces, and doing all the little things correctly."
Should they outlast the Cougars, the Cascades' reward would be to face a TWU side that's No. 1 in the U SPORTS national rankings.
Players to watch: Cascades fourth-year forward Brittney Zacharuk was red-hot throughout the second half of the regular season, finishing tied for second in the conference in goals (nine) and third in points (15). The Delta, B.C. product had four multi-point performances over her last seven games. The Cougars' offence is led by midfielder Janai Martens, who paced the squad with five goals this season.
