Pro goalkeeper Mark Village, now with Pacific FC of the Canadian Premier League, said that among his fondest memories from his university soccer playing career with the Fraser Valley Cascades was coming over each year for the annual Keg Spring Cup at Centennial Stadium.
He isn鈥檛 alone.
鈥淲e have teams lining up to get in,鈥� said University of Vikes head coach Bruce Wilson.
That鈥檚 because the rare shoulder season tournament gives U Sports teams in sa国际传媒 West a chance to see what they have developing for the upcoming fall conference season, while giving their seniors a final farewell tournament in which to play.
鈥淲e get good quality teams coming in,鈥� said Wilson.
Village鈥檚 alma mater has been a staple of the tournament, and the Cascades return on the men鈥檚 side, with a semifinal date against Wilson鈥檚 host UVic Vikes today at 4 p.m.
鈥淢y coach at the time at Fraser Valley was Al Errington and he prepared me for a pro environment and that helped me sign [with Vancouver Whitecaps 2 of the USL],鈥� said Village, of the value of his U Sports career.
The other men鈥檚 semifinal today is at noon and is a marquee match-up featuring the UBC Thunderbirds against the Trinity Western Spartans in a battle between the 2018 sa国际传媒 West champions and runners-up. As an indication of UBC鈥檚 strength, all three players selected by Pacific FC in the CPL U Sports draft and currently in the CPL pro club鈥檚 training camp at PISE 鈥� Nick Fussell, Thomas Gardiner and Zach Verhoven 鈥� are Thunderbirds. 鈥淚t was a government draw and just happened that way,鈥� said Wilson, with a chuckle, in discussing the Keg Cup semifinals, which have the top two teams from sa国际传媒 West in the same bracket.
鈥淏oth UBC and Trinity Western went to the national championship tournament, so this is going to be a tough competition,鈥� added Wilson, who captained sa国际传媒 in the 1986 World Cup.
The Vikes graduate only captain Mackenzie Rigg, who plays his final fixtures as a Vike this weekend.
鈥淲e will have [injured] Isaac Koch back for training camp, and with the returnees, I think we are looking decent for next season,鈥� said Wilson.
As for his recollections of Village, Wilson replied: 鈥淗e was excellent and caused us a lot of trouble over those five years.鈥�
Village, 27, will again on March 30 as UVic announced the Vikes will play Pacific FC in an exhibition game March 30 at Centennial Stadium.
Meanwhile, the women鈥檚 Keg Cup semifinals feature the Vikes taking on the Alberta Pandas this afternoon at 2 p.m.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great opportunity to play Alberta. Because of the [unbalanced] sa国际传媒 West schedule, we didn鈥檛 play them in conference last season and won鈥檛 again next season,鈥� said UVic head coach Tracy David.
The other women鈥檚 semifinal features the defending sa国际传媒 West champion and U Sports silver-medallist Trinity Western Spartans against UBC this morning at 10.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an opportunity for our younger players to show what they鈥檙e made of for next season,鈥� said David.
At the other end of the career scale, these will be the final games for Vikes senior Caitlin Millham.
Sunday鈥檚 action at Centennial Stadium begins with the women鈥檚 consolation game at 10 a.m. and men鈥檚 consolation at noon. The women鈥檚 final is at 2 p.m. and men鈥檚 final at 4 p.m.
