It was a devastating weekend for the Quest men's and women's soccer teams, as the clubs dropped all four games to the Langara Falcons in a home and home on Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 29 and 30).
The men's team has been virtually eliminated from the playoffs after the two losses, as the Kermodes need to win all six of their remaining games and get a lot of help from other teams. The club lost to Langara in Vancouver on Saturday and at home on Sunday by identical 2-1 scores.
Kermodes head coach Jonas Worth had a sense of d茅j脿 vu after the pair of losses.
"It was the same thing in both games," he said. "We made them look very ordinary for most of the game, but they kept beating us on set pieces."
Worth said he thought the Kermodes were the better team on both days but mistakes continue to cost them.
"It's all about being mentally switched on," he said. "It's really nothing to do with the way we're physically playing, it's just mental errors."
Quest did control most of the game on Sunday, but allowed a late goal in the first half to fall behind 1-0. JB McEown managed to tie the game in the second half but the Falcons re-took the lead minutes later after converting a corner kick. Kermodes defender Charles Impey said he thought the team played well, but still has yet to play a full 90 minutes.
"I thought the first half today [Sunday] was probably the best 44 minutes we played all year," he said. "And I say 44 because that one other minute cost us the game. But I think overall we can take pride in our performance."
Impey admitted that there is some frustration on the team after having failed to win a game so far this season.
"I'd say some of the first years are a little frustrated because I don't think they're used to this amount of losing," he said. "And some of the fourth years just want to win so it's probably tough for them too. But as a captain, it's my job to talk to the boys and I think we're a really close team."
He said there are still a few things he'd like the team to work on.
"We need to work on our attacking options," he said. "We're kind of getting a little static up front and most importantly we need to work on our confidence. It's more a mental than a physical game and if we start losing confidence it can become a snowball effect. But that's the job of me and the other co-captains to keep that confidence up."
Despite sitting in last place with zero wins, six losses and two draws, Impey said the team still has playoff hopes, pointing out the unusual situation last year when Douglas was disqualified from the postseason and other teams moved up.
It's not quite so dire for the women's team but the offence seems to have dried up, as the Kermodes were blanked in both games by Langara, 2-0 on Saturday and 1-0 on Sunday.
Scoring at home also seems to be a problem, with the women having managed only three goals in five home games this season. The last time the team scored at home was back on Sept. 15 against TRU when Jamey Horth scored the game's only goal.
With the pair of losses, the women's team drops to fifth place with a record of three wins, four losses and one tie.
The teams will hit the road on Saturday (Oct. 6), taking rivals Capilano University and then make a trip to Nanaimo on Sunday (Oct. 7) to take on the Vancouver Island University Mariners.
For more information on the teams, visit www.questkermodes.ca.
