WEDNESDAY, September 4, 2019
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SPORTS
A23
SPORTS: MARTY HASTINGS Phone: 250-374-7467 Email: sports@kamloopsthisweek.com Twitter: @MarTheReporter
INSIDE: Stankoven shines for Blazers | A24
PONYTAILED PENTICTON POACHER PACES PACK James Fraser of the TRU WolfPack is fouled by Sylvain Taghaoussi of the Victoria Vikes inside the 18-yard box in Canada West play on Sunday at Hillside Stadium. Fraser scored on the penalty kick. TRU won 5-0.
MARTY HASTINGS
STAFF REPORTER
sports@kamloopsthisweek.com
J
ames Fraser is a ponytailed poacher. The TRU WolfPack forward even pilfered a goal from teammate Josh Banton, one of his three markers in a 5-0 victory over the Victoria Vikes in Canada West men’s soccer play on Sunday at sunny Hillside Stadium. “He never stops,” WolfPack head coach John Antulov said of Fraser, who nabbed the Pack’s only goal in a 1-1 tie with the two-time defending conference champion UBC Thunderbirds on Saturday at Hillside. “We always say he’s like a dog on a bone. He just never gives up. His engine is working all the time. He’s going to be a force in Canada West.” Fraser earned headlines on the weekend, but the bigger story might be the overall performance of a team that lost key pieces in the off-season. Prolific talisman and former Canada West men’s soccer player of the year Mitch Popadynetz graduated. He accounted for about 18 per cent of the WolfPack’s scoring [28 of TRU’s 153 points] over the last two seasons. Dylan Hooper of Winnipeg and Kamloops product Justin Donaldson flanked Fraser up front for the WolfPack’s first two games of the 2019 campaign. The tandem clicked, thanks in part to deft service from midfielders, in particular Banton and Jan Pirretas Glasmacher of Barcelona. Hooper opened the scoring on Saturday on a goal that resulted from a Donaldson run down the left wing. The second goal was all Fraser, who seemed angered by a Vikes’ tackle and used the emotion to chase down and dispossess a Victoria defender. Fraser, who had a clear path toward goal, was tripped while shooting inside the 18-yard box. He opted to go down the middle from the penalty spot, expecting
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UBC goalkeeper Harjot Nijjar to dive. Nijjar dove. TRU goalkeeper Jackson Gardner, with an impressive leaping stop on a fierce Victoria halfvolley, and the cranium of English defender Harry Coles, used to block another Vikes’ howitzer, did their part in keeping the clean sheet intact through 45 minutes. Gardner, a second-year business student from Chilliwack, has competition this season in English import Olivier Jumeau, a rookie. “We’ve got two 1-A keepers,” Antulov said. “Oli is a good quality goalkeeper and Jackson just came in and worked really, really hard.
“He’s making that key save when he has to. It was his job to lose and he’s earned it.” The WolfPack led 2-0 at halftime. Glasmacher lobbed a 50-50 ball in Fraser’s vicinity in the 71st minute. “The centre back was actually in front of me,” said Fraser, who is from Penticton. “I just kind of jumped around him and poked it in the corner. I poached it. I don’t think the ‘keeper saw it coming.” The third goal, that one-touch slice off the outside of Fraser’s right boot, was a cutting blow. Banton made a further incision in the 85th minute, knifing up the middle of the field and dribbling
through opposition before using his left foot to test Nijjar. The goalkeeper got a leg on the ball, but the rebound looped behind him toward the net and found the head of Fraser about three inches before the goal line. It may have gone in without a nod from the poacher. “I definitely owe him a couple beers,” Fraser said. Late substitution Jordano Pinto scored in injury time to complete the drubbing. “It’s really nice to start like this,” said Fraser, a fourth-year business student. “We said a tie against UBC means nothing if we don’t win this game.” UBC is the No. 1-ranked team
in a pre-season Canada West coaches’ poll. TRU is fourth and Victoria is eighth. Vikes’ head coach Bruce Wilson told TRU Sports Information his team, missing a few injured players, was equal to the Pack in the first half. “All is not lost,” Wilson said. The Victoria coach expressed discontent with the turf field at Hillside Stadium. “It’s not really hard [to adjust], but it is difficult on the legs. Totally different,” said Wilson, whose charges play on a grass pitch in Victoria. “The grass is softer, quicker. When it’s hot like this, it’s difficult to play. Passing is difficult. The ball grips on the turf. I just think grass is better.” Antulov said he was pleased with progression on Sunday. The WolfPack starting 11, the same both days this weekend, has not had time to develop chemistry. Glasmacher, midfielder Chris Rass, an Austrian newcomer, and defender Callum Etches, also new to the team this year, are among those who were recovering from injuries during the pre-season. Central defenders Etches and Coles held their own in the middle, McPhie’s former domain. “Everyone has to step up,” Coles said. “Finlay is a big loss. “To get a five-nil win is massive, especially for the defence to keep a clean sheet and play the way we did. We’re absolutely delighted with it.” Victoria (2-2) will twice play host to the UNBC Timberwolves (1-2-1) of Prince George next weekend. TRU (1-0-1) will square off against Trinity (0-2-0) in Langley on Friday and Fraser Valley (1-2-1) in Abbotsford on Saturday. “We just need to continue at this pace,” Antulov said. “We can’t get too excited about this win.”
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