For a brief moment during the Quest Kermodes men's soccer team's game on Sunday (Sept. 22), the rain stopped but the team's downpour of defensive errors didn't.
The men's squad dropped a 4-1 decision to the UBC-O Heat to continue a winless slide that sees the team with two ties and four losses over the season's first six games. Quest head coach Jonas Worth said mistakes defensively have cost his team dearly.
In general throughout the first six games it's defensive errors that undo this team, he said. And really fundamental ones, not the sort of stuff you would expect at this level.
The team also dropped a 3-0 match to TRU on Saturday (Sept. 21), after the team received a red card and played with 10 men from the 15 minute mark on. Worth said there is some frustration on the team but he isn't making excuses
After what happened yesterday [against TRU] it would be impossible not to be frustrated, he said. But I'm not willing to make any excuses for what we're doing because we're too mature age wise to be making these mistakes.
The team's lone goal on the weekend came from forward Noah DeRappard-Yuswack, who tallied in the second half against the Heat. Worth said he's not worried about the team's offense but that his players need to recognize what the opponent is giving them, citing the fact that the Heat weren't giving Quest anything up the middle and needed to use the wings more to attack.
But I can't attribute anything to today other than our own defensive frailty, he said. We really need to work on our defensive clearances.
The men's team remains in last in the Pacwest and they have not recorded a win since Oct. 23, 2011.
Things were much sunnier on the women's side, as they split a pair of games against two of the top teams in the Pacwest.
The Kermodes lost a 1-0 game to the top ranked TRU Wolfpack on Saturday but then bounced back with an impressive 3-0 win against the Heat on Sunday.
Second year player Gabby Villasenor got Quest on the board early and then set up Daniella Smith beautifully to give the Kermodes a 2-0 lead minutes into the second half. Smith added another goal minutes later and was flirting with a hat trick for the remainder of the game.
Quest keeper Tiana Gilchrist was solid between the pipes, making several key saves in the first half to hang on for the shutout. Midfielder Brianna Powrie also had a strong game, helping on Villasenor's goal and moving the ball well.
The women's team sits in second place with a record of four wins and two losses. They leap frogged the Heat in the standings with Sunday's win.
The team's will hit the road next weekend with games against Douglas on Saturday (Sept. 28) and against Kwantlen on Sunday (Sept. 29).
For more information on Quest athletics, visit www.questkermodes.ca.
