VICTORIA - The University of Victoria Vikes men's soccer team held off a late charge from the Lethbridge Pronghorns to move back into first place in the Canada West standings following a 1-0 win over the Lethbridge Pronghorns (1-10-1) on Sunday at Centennial Stadium.

BOX SCORE

UVic improves to 8-2-2 for 26 points, one point ahead of second-place UBC. The Vikes scored the game's only goal in the 44th minute when six-foot-three fullback #Colin Wilson# (Victoria, B.C.) headed home a corner kick from #Wesley Barrett# (Richmond, B.C.), using his height to his advantage.

"I just jumped and tried to make contact," Colin Wilson said. "We're in first place now leading up to the nationals. Hopefully we can finish in first place."

#Daniel Kilpatrick# (Victoria) made three saves for his second win of the season, performing especially well in the air to knock the ball away on several occasions on dangerous Pronghorns crosses.

"They came out flying on all cylinders," Kilpatrick said. "We were coming off a high off wins over UBC and Trinity Western and maybe our mindset was a little lax to start. I was expecting to watch the ball a lot in their end, and not expecting a bunch of work."

Although UVic created a number of scoring chances, Vikes head coach #Bruce Wilson#, father of the goal scorer, said he was disappointed with his team's ability to finish.

"I'm disappointed with our play up front, our finishing was very poor," Wilson said. "But I'm pleased with how we played, no Canada West game is easy. We certainly had our chances. Lethbridge, credit to them, they showed no quit, and for a team out of the playoffs, they battled well."

The Vikes' first scoring chance came when a cross from #Cam Hundal# (Surrey, B.C.) was knocked out of the box by the fists of Lethbridge goalkeeper Colin Pattison (Calgary). However, the ball deflected out to the foot of Vikes striker #Kyle Kostis# (Calgary) who was robbed on the ensuing shot.

In the second half, with the Vikes leading 1-0, a shot from #Thomas Mallette# (Trail, B.C.) bounced off a Pronghorns defender out to Vikes fullback #Joel Gomez# (Surrey, B.C.) who came up from the back to strike the ball, but his blast was blocked in front and then fell to Hundal whose shot curled just wide of the top left corner.

Fullback #Toshi Hayashi# (Victoria) made a nice run to feed a cross to Kostis but his redirection sailed just over the crossbar in the 77th minute. Then at the other end two minutes later, Kilpatrick made an outstanding save off Pronghorns' midfielder Lucas Rajcic (Lethbridge) to keep the Vikes ahead.

Following a turnover by fullback #Bobby Eng# (Saanichton, B.C.) in his own end, a chip shot from Dario Pasquott (Lethbridge, Alta.) sailed over a charging Kilpatrick but hit the crossbar with two minutes remaining.

"In fairness to Bobby, he was coming in late to the game. We shifted #James Rhodes# (Victoria) up front because we were struggling up there," Bruce Wilson said. "But we had our chances, and we missed them."

With a spot in the Canada West Final 4 in tact, UVic travels to face Saskatchewan on Oct. 29 and third-place Alberta (6-2-4, 22 points) on Oct. 30 to close out the Canada West regular season. If the Vikes win both games they will finish in first place in the Canada West and would host the Canada West Championships Nov. 5-6 at Centennial Stadium.

"We're starting to gel as a team," Kilpatrick said. "No one beats us on our home park, we know officially we're in the playoffs. But this road trip features two extremely important games… we control our own desitiniy

UVic could also finish in first place with the help of Calgary and Lethbridge who host second-place UBC (7-1-5, 25 points) next weekend. The Vikes, as host of the 2011 CIS men's soccer championships Nov. 10-13, already have a spot in the national tournament but would like to come into it as Canada West champions. Trinity Western (6-4-2, 20 points) currently sits in fourth spot in the conference for the fourth and final playoff spot, but Calgary (6-5-1, 19 points) sits right on their heels. Saskatchewan (4-6-2, 17 points) is in sixth spot and could still qualify for the playoffs.

"It (winning the Canada West title) is important but not as important as the national championships," Bruce Wilson said. "But it would be a huge bonus and boost for us."

"At this point in the season, with one week to go, we're exactly where we want to be, not peaking too early," he added. "We now focus on two very difficult games against Alberta and Saskatchewan and if we come away with six points, we'll be deserving of hosting the Canada West championships."

Scoring Summary
(At Centennial Stadium, Victoria, B.C.)
        1    2      F
LETH    0    0    - 0
UVIC    1    0    - 1
UVic - Colin Wilson (44th minute)