By Jon Roe
The men’s soccer team assaulted B.C. over the weekend, returning with two wins and a sixth overall national ranking.
The Dinos started Fri., Sept. 15 in Abbotsford taking on the University College of Fraser Valley Cascades. A scoreless tie was broken in the 68th minute by midfield Mazin Tabsh. Tabsh scored on a shot from outside the 18-yard box. The game finished in a 1-0 victory for the Dinos.
The Cascades were outshot 14-3, with the Dinos firing nine on keeper Jesse Haagen. Dinos keeper J.P. Crescenzi was only forced to stop two shots and picked up the shut out.
Saturday the Dinos moved to Langley to take on the Trinity Western Spartans. Even though they were outshot 14-5, the Dinos squeaked by with a 1-0 win. The goal came in the 90th minute from a Spartan turnover which second-year striker David Bird converted.
Crescenzi earned his second shut out of the weekend in the victory, which boosted the Dinos’ record to 3-1-0 on the young season. Crescenzi was also named Canadian Interuniversity Sport athlete of the week for his efforts.
Next up for the Dinos is a two game home set against the University of Victoria Vikes and the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.
On Sat., Sept. 23 the 1-1-1 Vikes will hit the pitch. The Vikes have only scored three goals this season, their lone victory and all their goals coming against the bottom-ranked Cascades.
The T-birds, on the other hand, are the reigning CIS champions, and will be in town Sun., Sept. 24. UBC has started the season 2-0-1, and have yet to allow a goal. They are currently tied for second in offense, with five goals, but four of them came against those hapless Cascades.