Valiant playoff efforts

By Amanda and Krista VanSteelandt

Despite the Dinos men’s soccer team’s best efforts at the Canada West playoffs in Langley, B.C., the University of Calgary couldn’t come up with a result.

“We competed. It shows we deserved to sneak in like we did,” said keeper “Two-minute” Rick Urbanczyk.

Calgary lost their quarter-final match Fri., Nov. 4 to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, arguably the top-ranked team in the nation. The T-Birds got a leg up on the Dinos early in the second half after a rookie mistake by U of C let Jon Poli score.

“It was end-to-end in the last 10 minutes,” said Gibbs. “It was like watching hockey.”

The final score remained 1-0 for UBC.

“Rick needs props for the UBC game because he made so many saves,” vouched his teammate Adam “Oni” Onulov.

The Dinos went on to face the University of Alberta Golden Bears in the bronze medal match Sat., Nov. 5. Again, the first half ended nil-nil, but the cherry popped early in the second. The U of A’s Alex Campos scored in the 57th minute from inside the penalty area off a feed from John Konye, who went on to score in the 68th minute. A third goal was awarded to the Bears with a penalty kick taken by Ben Drummond in the 70th minute of play.

Calgary pushed hard until the end and scored two goals in the final 10 minutes. Ryan “Dense” Holbrook tapped in a shot by Adam “A-Mac” MacDonald to get on the board in the 85th minute. The second goal was a header by Mazin “Maz-bot” Tabsh off a cross by Tanmeet “Meat” Singh in the 90th minute. The final score was 3-2 for U of A.

“Five more minutes and we probably would have tied it up,” said Gibbs.

The Trinity Western University Spartans won the gold against UBC 2-1. Both teams will compete at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Men’s Soccer National Championship at the University of Prince Edward Island.

“[Playoffs] didn’t go as planned. We would have much preferred eating lobster and potatoes in P.E.I.,” admitted Andrew “Horse” Waiand. “It was a fun season all around. The guys are really nice.”

“We played great,” said Gibbs. “The guys played hard. They are a credit to the game and the university. It was a super season. We did pretty good for losing 12 guys.”

Some senior Dinos were recognized for their efforts this year. Carlos “Hot Karl” Cruz received Canada West’s Student Athlete Community Service Award. MacDonald was named a First-Team All-Star and Cruz was named to the second team.

The Dinos might not be scoring on the field any more this year, but they could still be scoring with the ladies. They’re hosting their cabaret–Office Hoes and CEOs–at the Den Sat., Nov. 19. According to Gibbs, it’s the “best gong show” at the U of C.

“Bring your sexy,” says Onulov, “Soccer cabs are the greatest thing.”