Saturday, Sept. 28: Cascades (3-3-3, 6th in Pacific Division) at UBC Okanagan Heat (6-3-1, 2nd in Pacific Division), 3 p.m., Kelowna B.C.
 
Sunday, Sept. 29: Cascades at Thompson Rivers WolfPack (2-2-4, 7th in Pacific Division), 2 p.m., Kamloops B.C.
 
Webcast: CanadaWest.tv presented by Co-op

The Pacific Division men's soccer standings are an absolute logjam. UBC (5-1-1), UBC Okanagan (6-3-1) and Victoria (5-3-1) hold down the top three spots, with the remaining four teams at .500 in some form or fashion. Considering that just four teams from the Pacific qualify for the Canada West post-season – and with just six to eight games remaining for each team – it's clear that crunch time is upon us.

The Kelowna-Kamloops road swing through the Interior is always a tough one, and more so in light of the urgency of the situation for all involved.

UFV hosted the Heat and the WolfPack on back-to-back nights earlier this season, requiring late goals to earn 1-1 draws with both teams.

"It's a really tough place to go," UFV head coach Tom Lowndes said, looking ahead to the road swing. "Both those teams are strong at home – they like playing at home, and they've had a lot of success at home. It'll be up to us to go on the road and continue to do the things we've been doing, worrying about ourselves first and focusing on the things we do, and attacking the weekend with a real purpose and intent to get some points."

The Cascades are riding a streak of strong defensive play, with back-to-back clean sheets vs. Mount Royal and Lethbridge.

"We've gotten back to being difficult to play against," Lowndes said. "Defensively we've been a lot more cohesive. There's a belief in the group and the willingness to work hard for each other is a big thing that hopefully we'll take into this weekend."

Players to watch: Centre back Nawaf Binsaleh has made an instant impact in his first season with the Cascades. In his fifth year of eligibility, the Douglas College transfer has fit in nicely on the UFV backline alongside Sahib Sidhu, and has contributed a pair of goals – a penalty kick vs. Calgary on Sept. 13, and the game-winner on a set piece vs. Lethbridge last Saturday. He'll be tasked with tracking a pair of dangerous offensive threats for the T-Wolves and Heat this weekend. TRU's fourth-year forward James Fraser is the Canada West leader in goals with eight, and UBCO's Sam McDonald is tied for sixth with four goals, including the lone goal for the Heat in their 1-1 tie with UFV on Sept. 6.