The University of the Fraser Valley men's soccer team picked up a point on the road vs. their local rivals, tying the Trinity Western Spartans 1-1 in Langley on Saturday.

Taylor Richardson notched the first goal of the season for the Cascades (0-2-2) in the seventh minute of play, but Thomas Powell equalized for the Spartans (2-0-4) in the 65th to salvage the draw. 

Both goalkeepers had to be sharp – UFV's Jackson Cowx and TWU's Alexander Cordeiro registered seven saves apiece.

"We were good for large parts of the game," Cascades head coach Tom Lowndes analyzed afterward. "I thought we were really good in the first half and created multiple scoring opportunities and finally took one. Legs kicked in in the second half, and we had to defend at times. We stuck together after conceding a goal, and we created a few good chances when we were exhausted, depleted. We'll regroup and bounce back for next weekend."

Missing a significant chunk of their veteran core on Saturday due to injury – including fifth-year seniors Ryan Donald and Nikhil Reddy, fourth-years Parman Minhas and David Parfett, and starting keeper Joben Mander – the Cascades nevertheless were on the front foot early and got on the board off a set piece deep in Spartan territory.

Mikael Mainella unleashed a free kick from the right sideline, and Tobias Spiess rose to flick the ball on to Richardson at the back post for the wide-open header.

"We got the monkey off our back," Lowndes acknowledged with a wry chuckle. "It was a great goal – a great ball in from Mikael, a fantastic flick-on from Tobias, and a good header from Taylor to finish it.

"We've got some positives to take forward into next weekend, for sure."

Powell drew the Spartans even in the 65th with a terrific strike from outside the penalty area that found the bottom left corner. 

The Cascades had a crack at a go-ahead goal in the 77th, as Spiess lined up a free kick from just outside the box, but his low shot went just wide of the right post.

The Spartans had a few dangerous-looking forays late, but fullbacks Jaskarn Sodhi and Charandeep Rangi – both of whom went the full 90 minutes and were excellent throughout – were up to the task. 

The UFV soccer teams are back in action next weekend at home, hosting the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday (women 5:30 p.m., men 8 p.m.) and Sunday (women 1 p.m., men 3 p.m.) at Rotary Stadium.