It was almost a perfect way to end the pre-season for the Quest University Kermodes men's and women's soccer teams.
In front of a boisterous crowd lining the school's pitch, both teams picked up convincing victories on Saturday (Sept. 3).
The ladies kicked off the evening by taking on the Surrey United U18s and the visitors struck early when Carina Lauzon stunned the Kermodes. However, the Kermodes replied quickly to even the score and added two more unanswered goals to pick up the 3-1 victory.
Quest's Anika Nystrom, who scored the tying goal for the Kermodes, admitted the team came out flat but was proud of the way they fought back.
"We definitely did have a slow start and lost a little momentum but when I scored I think it changed the game," she said.
Also scoring for Quest were Krigi Marti and Jamie Horth. Nystrom said the Kermodes have been working hard and their fitness was apparent as the game progressed.
"We've been training hard," she said. "We've had two-a-days for four hours a day and our fitness is really good. I like the way the team looks heading into the season but we can still work on pressing the ball up to the forwards more."
Surrey coach Derek Wicklund said both the Kermodes team and the Quest campus impressed him.
"We started strong but kind of ran out of team," he said. "They're a well coached and organized team and they seem really fit."
Wicklund said it was the first time to the campus for himself and most of the players.
"It's a really beautiful campus up here," he said. "The scenery is gorgeous and it's a real nice field too."
After the women's victory, the men's team hit the pitch and took on the Mountain United U18 squad from the High Performance League.
Quest had an offensive explosion against Mountain United, scoring nine goals and showing off an offensive flair that seemed to be missing from last year's team. For the record, the 2010 Kermodes scored a grand total of eight goals all season.
Daniel Hann and Justin Dhaliwal scored for Mountain United while Peter Cooper, Mawuena Mallett and Charles Impey all scored two, with Alex Morgan, Oscar Bonilla and Kevin Berna adding singles.
"The game was good," Impey said. "We had a bit of a sloppy start but after a while we put together what we've been working on all pre-season and played well."
Impey said the win should give the team some confidence as it heads into the start of the regular season. He added that he likes the team's chemistry.
"We all live in the same building and we've got a real sense of community with this team," he said. "The old boys have helped bring along the new boys and they're a vital part of the team. I think we're really all together."
The schedule makers also seem to have given Quest an advantage to start off regular season action as the Kermodes play one game a week for the first two weeks. The Kermodes will travel to Prince George to take on the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) Timberwolves on Saturday (Sept. 10) and then host those same Wolves on Sept. 17.
For more information on the teams, visit www.questkermodes.ca.
