Friday, Oct. 18: Cascades (5-4-4, 4th in Pacific Division) vs. Victoria Vikes (7-5-1, 2nd in Pacific Division), 8 p.m., MRC Sports Complex
Sunday, Oct. 20: Cascades at No. 5 UBC Thunderbirds (9-1-3, 1st in Pacific Division), 2 p.m., Thunderbird Stadium
Webcast: CanadaWest.tv

The Canada West men's soccer playoff picture can be tough to decipher, given that teams play differing numbers of conference games (some 15, others 16) and post-season berths are decided based on the percentage of available points earned.

Furious calculator button-punching reveals that the scenario for the Cascades is simple: Win one of their two final regular-season games this weekend, and they're bound for the post-season.

UFV presently holds the fourth and final Pacific Division playoff slot, with a .487 points percentage. Fifth-place UBC Okanagan, which played its final games last weekend, is stuck at .458. Sixth-place Thompson Rivers (.405) and seventh-place UNBC (.385) are both still mathematically alive, but they play each other twice head-to-head in Prince George, and one – or both – will be eliminated based on those results. Both must sweep the weekend to have a fighting chance, but the Cascades can eliminate that possibility by either defeating UVic Friday at home or UBC Sunday on the road.

Of their weekend opponents, UVic (.564) is in second place, but still not assured of a post-season spot. (There's even a long-shot scenario where UFV could overtake both UVic and third-place Trinity Western and host a quarter-final playoff game.) First-place UBC (.769), meanwhile, has locked up the Pacific's top seed. Both teams defeated the Cascades earlier this season by matching 2-0 scores.

Cascades head coach Tom Lowndes noted that he's proud of his team for taking control of its playoff fate by virtue of twin 3-2 wins over TWU last weekend. Yet there's still much work to be done.

"There's things we can take from last weekend and apply to Friday night (vs. UVic)," he said. "But we have to reset, we have to refocus. We need to have the effort and the mentality and the mindset we've had the past few games to do whatever it takes to get a result.

"UVic will be coming in on Friday wanting to bounce back from their losses to UBC last weekend, and they have a chance to host a home playoff game, so they'll be up for it. We'll have to match that."

Players to watch: Friday's game marks the regular-season home finale for a quartet of Cascades fifth-year players: Gurmaan Jhaj, Brady Weir, Tyler Henderson and Nawaf Binsaleh. All four have been influential to the team's fortunes this season, and they'll be honoured in a pregame ceremony. Jhaj and Weir have a chance to further embed their names in the program's record books this weekend. Jhaj is currently tied for the Cascades' all-time points lead (31) with Sasa Plavsic (2010-2012). Weir and Jhaj are both sitting third on the all-time assists leaderboard with nine apiece; co-leaders Plavsic and James Najman (2012-2016) have 11. The Cascades will be game-planning to slow UVic's fourth-year midfielder Isaac Koch, who sits second in the conference in goals (eight) and is tied for the lead in assists (eight) this season. He's been tough on UFV in the past, most recently scoring one goal and setting up the other in a 2-0 win in Victoria on Aug. 25. UBC boasts the conference's leading goal-scorer in Victory Shumbusho, who has nine on the season and earned CW third star honours this past week.