Soccersaurs don’t get the goods

By Amamda and Kristin VanSteelandt

We all make mistakes. So do the Dinos. Theirs resulted in losses to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds and Trinity Western University Spartans Oct. 1-2. Still, die-hard fans were out enduring the weather and lame attempts to announce the games.

The first half against UBC on Saturday was full of chances and anger for both teams. The first goal went to UBC, with a nice cross by Niko “Hurt Leg” Marcina being headed into the corner of the net by Graham Smith.

When UBC wasn’t eating mud pies in a sad attempt to draw free kicks, they were getting into fights. T-Bird Steve DeBlasio and Dino Adam Onulov were awarded yellow cards for their valiant attempts to start a brawl. Sadly, no blood was drawn.

The second half was more of the same. Richard “Two-Minute Rick” Urbanczyk was stellar in net and kept the Dinos in the running. But the T-Birds still weren’t too busy to grab themselves. We can see you on the field; just so you know.

Midway through the second half Dino Andrew “Horse” Waiand drew two yellow cards in two minutes and was thrown out of the game with a shiny red card.

“‘Horse’ became a donkey for two minutes,” said Head Coach Andy Gibbs. “Usually he’s a workhorse.”

Down to 10 men and trailing by one, the Dinos had an uphill battle. As the game neared the end, T-Bird Luke “Grizzly Adams” Sandilands broke through and scored. The Dinos lost 2-0.

“The last goal doesn’t count because we were chasing the game with 10 men,” said Gibbs, “It was a 50:50 game. We’re two close teams.”

“We gave both goals. It’s tough to come back with 10 men,” Adam “A-Mac” MacDonald concurred.

On God’s day, TWU must’ve called out the holy trinity, ’cause they crucified the Dinos.

This game was more intense than the day before; early in the game, a mishandled ball at the back was put in by TWU’s Todd “JTT” Anderson. Not long afterwards, Spartan Jason Flint was taken down in the box. Justin Farenik struck the penalty kick true, doubling the TWU lead.

The two-goal lead held for most of the game, with Urbanczyk making some wicked saves. The U of C stepped it up in the second half, but just couldn’t score. Finally, rookie Tanmeet “Slaughterhouse” Singh scored off a play that started with a free kick just over the half line. But that was the end: 2-1 for TWU.

“We lost because of serious mistakes, not effort,” said Gibbs. “We were pounding them at the end.”

The losses drop the Dinos to fourth in Canada West with a 3-2-0 record. UBC is now sitting in first, with TWU in second. The Dinos’ next game is against the third-ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears Sat., Oct. 15 on the West Varsity Soccer Pitch at 2:15 p.m.