An up and down season for the Kermodes men's soccer team ended on a downer as the team narrowly missed qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in the program's history.
Needing a win against Langara on Saturday (Oct. 23) to guarantee a playoff spot, the Kermodes played them to a scoreless draw. Needing at least a tie to ensure their playoff spot, the team then lost 3-1 to Capilano on Sunday (Oct. 24). This left Langara and Quest tied for the final playoff spot in Group B with 11 points but Langara was awarded third because they defeated Quest in a game earlier this year.
According to Kermodes head coach Adam Day it's a peculiar tiebreaker as many leagues use final goal differential to break ties in the standings.
"I'm not really sure why they use head to head games as a tiebreaker," he said. "It's beyond stupid. We had a better goal differential than Langara but they qualify because they beat us almost a month ago."
"It's frustrating that this has happened to us and we feel that we deserve to be in the playoffs."
Day said that for the last five games, Quest has been a much better team.
"Ever since the Douglas game I think we've been a very consistent team," he said. "We're really starting to gel as a team in these last three weeks and that's why it's even more disappointing we won't be going to the playoffs."
At the start of the year, Day said that the program's main goal was to improve and he admitted that he thinks the team made a big step forward this year.
"It's a progression," he said, noting that prior to this year the team had never won a regular season game. "We are better now than the same time last year but we need to bring in better players with better attitudes. We don't want to be scrambling to make the playoffs again last year, we want to qualify comfortably."
Day pointed to the poor performance at home against Kwantlen as the season's turning point. Kwantlen and Quest played to a 1-1 draw and it was the only game that Kwantlen picked up points in, losing their other 11 games.
Day said that the team's win against Vancouver Island University was a true highlight and one of the biggest wins in the history of the program. The Kermodes handed the Mariners their only loss of the season, winning 2-1 at home. He also mentioned the team's strong effort against Douglas as another good memory.
The team finished off with a record of three wins, six losses and two draws, placing fourth in their division.
Day added that the team is planning on playing a few local friendly games to close off the season and also wished luck to the women's side in the playoffs.
For more information on the team, visit www.questkermodes.ca.
