On the surface, it鈥檚 a mere exhibition tournament in an intensive weekend of international and local sport that features everything from NCAA hoops March Madness to crucial World Cup qualifying soccer matches to WHL/BCHL playoffs and today鈥檚 Jackson Cup soccer final.
But dig deeper and the UVic Keg Spring Cup soccer tournament at Centennial Stadium has symbolic significance for the participants beyond most exhibitions.
Today鈥檚 finals feature both the defending men鈥檚 (UBC Thunderbirds) and women鈥檚 (Trinity Western Spartans) CIS national champions. With the UVic hosts advancing to both finals, the Vikes teams would like nothing better than to send a message with 2012-13 season-ending victories over the respective national champs.
That鈥檚 especially true on the women鈥檚 side after Trinity Western defeated the Vikes in the CIS national semifinals last fall on this same Centennial Stadium pitch, relegating UVic to an eventual bronze medal.
鈥淗opefully, we鈥檒l get some revenge on them,鈥� said Jaclyn Sawicki, the third-year Vikes midfield standout, who represented sa国际传媒 at the 2012 FIFA U-20 World Cup last summer in Japan.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 in our minds,鈥� added the sa国际传媒 West and CIS all-star.
鈥淲e鈥檝e always been so close to them [Spartans] in our match-ups but have not been able to come out on top.鈥�
In Saturday鈥檚 semifinals, UVic blanked the University of Alberta Pandas 3-0 on goals by Lindsay Hoetzell, Maryse Reichgeld and Jackie Harrison while Trinity Western edged UBC 2-1.
The women鈥檚 final at 2 p.m. today, between UVic and Trinity Western, will be followed by the men鈥檚 final at 4 p.m.
The latter will feature the past two CIS national men鈥檚 champions 鈥� the Thunderbirds from 2012 and Vikes from 2011.
UBC blitzed Trinity Western 4-0 while UVic got past the Fraser Valley Cascades 2-0, on first-half goals by Gavin Barrett and Cam Hundal, in Saturday afternoon鈥檚 sun-drenched semifinals.
鈥淚t鈥檚 our last weekend of play and so this is the accumulation of the full season,鈥� said UVic head coach Bruce Wilson, who captained sa国际传媒 in the 1986 World Cup.
鈥淭his tournament has been going on for 26 years and we look forward to it every year.鈥�
With only defender Wes Barrett graduating, the Vikes look to be a force in sa国际传媒 West next fall.
鈥淭his tournament is annually a picture looking toward next season,鈥� noted Wilson.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have basically the same group of players returning and it鈥檚 a good group of players.鈥�
