Victoria, BC – Brody Perkin's late goal earned the UFV Cascades men's soccer team their first point of the season in a 1-1 draw with the University of Victoria Vikes on Saturday night in Victoria.

The Cascades battled to a draw despite missing last year's conference player of the year, Mateo Brazinha, and Friday night's goalscorer, Michael Beecroft, to injury. The result boosts UFV's record to 0-1-1 after the opening weekend, while Victoria moves to 1-0-1.

How it happened:
Harjoven Sidhu had the Cascades best chance early, as he put Vikes goalkeeper Callum Weir under pressure before blocking his attempted clearance back towards goal. The ball looked certain to cross the line, but it landed with backspin and bounced back into the hands of Weir. 

Victoria's Archie Tugwell found himself in trouble in the 34^th minute. The defender was already on a yellow card from early in the half, and he was shown a second for an off the ball incident leaving the Vikes to 10-men.

The Cascades were on top of the game, but it was the Vikes that struck the first blow early in the second half. After a turnover that appeared to strike the arm of a Vikes player at midfield, Victoria pushed forward, and a misjudged tackle from UFV's Sidhu gave the hosts a penalty shot. Connor Legge stepped up to take it, and his shot just beat the outstretched arm of UFV goalkeeper Matheus De Souza to the bottom left corner of the net to make it 1-0.

It looked like time might have been running out for the Cascades to get something from the game, but an Ebi Igali cross earned a UFV corner in the 89^th minute. Adam Szymanski played a nice ball in that found Perkin at the near post, and he powered the header past Weir for his first career Canada West goal.

The Cascades looked to steal all three points in stoppage time as Perkin sent Kevin Mailand in on goal. Mailand's shot beat the Vikes goalkeeper, but Alexander Moody slid back to clear it off the line and preserve the draw.

Notable:
Perkin's goal is the first of his burgeoning Canada West career, having played just 12 minutes as a substitute so far through the first two games.

Quotable:
UFV Head coach Tom Lowndes

"It's huge, you know, for Brody [Perkin] as a first-year player to come in the game when we needed a goal. I think it was it was well deserved. I think it would have been a travesty if we didn't take something from that game." 

"We talk about the young guys coming in and making an impact, trying to to earn their minutes, and he's made the most of his opportunities. He's done well in preseason. He's versatile, he's big, he's strong, he's quick. You know, when he's come in and done a job. He took his opportunity really well and it's obviously good for the rest of the young players that are trying to make a mark when they see a guy like that do it. Really happy for him to get his first goal and earn us a point on the road."

Next Up:
The Cascades have a chance to recover next week as they have a bye from conference play, before hosting Thompson Rivers University and UBC Okanagan on September 5 and 6 respectively. The games can be seen live on Canada West TV at 7pm.

To keep up with all the action follow the Cascades on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter at @ufvcascades