The Quest University Kermodes tasted victory for the first time ever at home after the Kermodes women's soccer team defeated the University of Northern British Columbia 3-0 on Saturday (Sept. 25).
Mari Tarleton scored all three goals but assistant head coach Jonas Worth wasn't surprised by the offensive outburst.
"It was long overdue for Mari," he said. "But she gave a lot of credit to her team for getting her the ball and putting her in a position to score. She's willing to shoot the ball from wherever and is willing to be selfish at times to score, which is what you want from a striker."
According to Worth, this year's edition of the team has the ability to produce much more offence than years past.
"Our team in the past has tended to sit back on our heels and defend," he said. "But this year we have more of an ability to attack and take the game to other teams. As long as we don't make mistakes we can beat just about any team in this league."
Worth said the victory was a great sense of relief, especially for some of the third year players on the team who had never won a game in league play.
"It's the energy this year that makes a difference," said third-year student Erica Benson. "Every person you pass to is going to be solid."
"I think we're ready to win games because we are all on the same level," added Samadhi Bouchard, speaking of the contributions of first through third year teammates.
For Worth, the victory was nice but he said that as soon as the final whistle blew, the coaching staff was already thinking about preparing for the next game.
Over on the men's side, it was a frustrating result for head coach Adam Day as despite a wealth of opportunities, his team lost 1-0.
"We came out really flat in the first half," he said. "No energy, no determination and we again conceded a goal from a set play, which is unacceptable."
Day pointed out that four of the team's five goals against on the year have been scored off of set plays and that cannot happen if the team wants to excel.
"The second half was decent but our finishing was just not there," he added. "We created enough chances but our strikers could not finish. We really looked like a young, immature side today."
Over 200 fans attended the home openers, which featured a quartet of drummers drumming up support for the teams. Worth pointed out that there will be a beer tent planned for the team's next games and he expects attendance to be loud and raucous.
Next up for the teams will be games against Langara on Saturday (Oct. 2) and Capilano on Sunday (Oct. 3). The women start at 1 p.m. on both days, with the men beginning at 3 p.m.
