Abbotsford, BC – There was magic in the air for the UFV Cascades in their home opener on Friday night, as a first half hat-trick from Kevin Mailand powered them to a 5-0 victory over the TRU Wolfpack at Rotary Stadium. 

The win moves UFV to 1-1-1 on the season, while the WolfPack fall to 0-5 so far.

How it happened:
Michael Beecroft got the Cascades off to an early start, when he pounced on a ball at the top of the TRU box, before smashing a swerving shot into the top-right corner to give UFV the lead in the 10th minute. 

TRU's Matheus Lucas found himself with a good chance to equalize just five minutes later, but his shot from the top of the box sailed right of the goal to end the danger. 

Mailand doubled the Cascades lead in the 25th minute, as he surged up the middle before receiving a pass from BhagvirSidhu. The German winger made no mistake slotting his shot into the bottom left of the goal. 

Just six minutes later, Mailand added his name to the scoresheet once again. A diagonal ball from Harjoven Sidhu found the chest of Mailand, who knocked the ball down deftly before calmly passing the ball into the net to make it 3-0. Mailand's "magic wand" celebration would appear for the third time just before the half time whistle, as he poked home a Mateo Brazinha cross in the 45th minute to give UFV a four-goal margin going into the break.

Ebi Igali would clip it over the goalkeeper and onto the foot of Brazinha, who tapped it in to cap off the Cascades 5-0 rout in the 66th minute. 

Both teams had chances in the final 20 minutes, but the scoreline remained the same as UFV claimed their first win of the season, and goalkeeper Matheus De Souza nabbed his first career Canada West clean sheet. 

Quotable:
UFV winger Kevin Mailand

"Guys were telling me I was going to score today, so I had a good feeling going into the game and then I was able to get the new 'celly' out. It's good to get a couple and get everyone going."

"[The win] is a big step after the two tough games, so it's a good one to have and we want to make home a fortress too."

UFV goalkeeper Matheus De Souza

"[The clean sheet] is a really good feeling especially on the home opener. I think the boys worked really hard from the first minute, and the four goals in the first half really set the tone. It's good to get a first one here, but it's a big important game tomorrow, so we have to focus on that now."

"We're a family in the back, and my defenders have been really solid. They have my back, and I have theirs."

UFV head coach Tom Lowndes

"I thought it was a real complete performance. We talked before the game about making Rotary a horrible place for teams to come, and I thought we had a really good start. We were electric going forward and we probably could have had a few more goals, but I'm just proud of the effort overall."

Next Up:
The Cascades take on the UBC Okanagan Heat at home on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 7pm at Rotary Stadium in Abbotsford, and live on Canada West TV.

To keep up with all the action follow the Cascades on social media at @ufvcascades