VICTORIA, B.C. - The University of Victoria Vikes men's soccer team rode the momentum of a three-goal first-half to a 5-1 dominating performance over the Trinity Western Spartans on Oct. 24 at Centennial Stadium. The win wraps up the Vikes' Canada West regular season and secures them a home date in the play-off quarter-finals on Oct. 30 against the Prairie Division's Mount Royal Cougars. The Spartans will head to Alberta to face either the Alberta Golden Bears or Calgary Dinos.

[BOX SCORE]
 
Michael Baart's third goal in two games opened the scoring before Cam Hundal and Isaac Koch netted in the first-half to give the Vikes a 3-0 lead at the break. Hundal added a second for his eighth goal of the season and Colantonio notched a final-minute marker to instill confidence in the Vikes ahead of the play-offs.
 
Leighton Johnson added a consolation goal for the Spartans in the 86^th minute on a nice placement top shelf past Pawlowski, who made three saves in the victory. Spartans goalkeeper Andrew Hicks made three saves in the loss, and the Vikes sent 16 shots his way in comparison to Trinity Western's seven.
 
"It was a weekend we wanted to have after a poor performance against Thompson Rivers and UBC Okanagan," commented Vikes men's soccer head coach Bruce Wilson. "We threw points away and it put us under pressure. The big players stepped up for us tonight and we scored eight goals at home this weekend."
 
The Vikes were in need of a win to guarantee a date at Centennial Stadium in the Canada West Quarter-Finals while a draw would mean they rely on results elsewhere. The Fraser Valley Cascades and Spartans were following closely behind them in the standings going into the final game.
 
The Vikes celebrated the graduation of three players – Cam Hundal, Craig Gorman and Dominic Colantonio – before the start of the game. Hundal and Gorman were part of the CIS Championship winning team that secured the title on home turf at Centennial Stadium in 2011.
 
The Vikes took the lead on the ten-minute mark when Isaac Koch crossed the ball into the middle of the box for Baart to take on a first-touch volley. The Vikes led 1-0 through Baart's third in two games after securing his first two goals of the season on Oct. 23 against Fraser Valley.
 
Hundal came close in the 21^st minute when he tried to chip Spartans goalkeeper Hicks, but struck the crossbar. Hundal would find his seventh goal of the season, however, for the 2-0 Vikes lead in the 38^th minute off a well-laced shot to the far corner off a pass from Tarnvir Bhandal.
 
Koch wrapped up a solid first-half for the Vikes when he drove wide and placed his shot far post past Hicks. Hundal got in on the action with the assist to find Koch on the left side of the midfield prior to the goal.
 
The Vikes were sitting pretty at the break, up 3-0 against the Spartans. The Vikes carried the momentum all half, firing ten shots towards Hicks in comparison to Trinity Western's two at the time.
 
The Vikes picked up after the break where they left off from the restart with Hundal's second of the game and eighth goal of the season in the 69^th minute when he finished off a pass from Sam Prette.
 
The Spartans added consolation on a nice goal from Leighton Johnson in the 86^th minute when his shot beat Pawlowski on the far post, top shelf. Vikes veteran Colantonio restored the four-goal lead in the 90^th minute when Hundal picked up his fourth point and second assist on a through ball to a streaking Colantonio. He finished easily to make it 5-1 and wrap up the three points for the Vikes.
 
"We like to play on our own grass and the goal this season was to host a play-off game, and we earned that honour," said Wilson on the perks of winning the rights to host a quarter-final. "We played these last two games like play-off games."
 
The Vikes return to action in the Canada West Quarter-Finals on Oct. 30 at 7:15 p.m. when they host the Mount Royal Cougars at Centennial Stadium. The Spartans head over the mountains into Alberta to face the Golden Bears or the Dinos.
 
All play-off games can be streamed live on canadawest.tv, and visit govikesgo.com/tickets for information on how you can take in the Vikes' play-off home game on Oct. 30.
 
Game Summary:
            1          2          F
UVIC:  3          2          5
TWU:  0          1          1
 
Scoring Summary:
UVIC: Cam Hundal (21', 69'), Isaac Koch (43'), M. Baart (10'), Dominic Colantonio (90')
TWU: Leighton Johnson (86')
 
MVPs:
UVIC: Cam Hundal
TWU: Elijah Adekugbe
 
Cautions:
UVIC: /
TWU: Joel Waterman (Yellow card- USB)