Local Sports Roundup: Heat men win their way into post season, Heat women suffer tough loss, Casorso finishes season strong

Late goal heroics sends heat to post season

Wyatt Gilbert scored the biggest goal of his career for UBC Okanagan on Saturday night. The first year midfielder was the latest first year player to play the hero for the Heat men's soccer team scoring the winning goal as the time on the clock read well past the 80 minute mark.

Needing a win to guarantee themselves a spot in the Canada West playoffs, the UBC Okanagan Heat left it until the very last minute but were able to pull out a 3-2 victory over the UVic Vikes on October 22 on the soggy grass of Centennial Stadium in Victoria, BC.

"We have kind of made a habit of it this year, we've won a few games late and it's a testament to our players, their commitment and their desire to keep on fighting," said Heat head coach Dante Zanatta.

Gilbert scored the winner and Isaac Koch and Jyotish Khanna scored the Vikes goals while Luke Warkentin, Nikhil Reddy scored the other Heat goals, both were immediate answers to the short-lived Victoria lead.

The all-important goal from Gilbert came in the 91st minute of play. Reddy controlled a loose ball before playing a perfect pass across the face of goal to the waiting Gilbert who blasted the ball into the top corner.

"We got a bit lucky, but sometimes karma works for you," said Zanatta.

"B.C. is so tough, UVic is normally a power in the conference and we were fortunate today for sure."

UVic got on the board first early in the game. Jack Hill played a perfectly weighted through ball into the path of the speedy Koch who tucked the ball past Mitch McCaw in the Heat net in the fourth minute.

The goal was the fourth of the weekend for Koch, who ends the season with six goals in just eight games played.

UBCO tied the contest back up 10 minutes later in the first half after Warkentin was the first man to get a foot onto a ball bouncing around the UVic 18-yard box.

Khanna scored his first goal of the season in spectacular fashion to restore the Vikes lead just a few minutes into the start of the second (51'). A ball crossed in looked to have too much pace for the first-year Vike to get a piece of, but Khanna flung himself forward and powered the ball into the net with a diving header.

Reddy tied the game back up for UBCO when he immediately answered the Vikes second goal in the 53rd minute, before turning provider for the dramatic game winner.

"The game was calling for Nikhil because he has that silkiness to him and an ability to distribute," said Zanatta.

The extremely young roster of the Heat close out the regular season with a record of (6-8-2), and finish fourth in the Pacific Division, thanks to the UBC Thunderbirds hanging on to a (2-1) victory over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack in Vancouver which finished just a few minutes earlier then their decision.

With the win the Heat will travel to Edmonton next weekend for the first round of the Canada West playoffs. Their quarter-Final, win or go home match will be against the top seed from the Prairie Division the (13-1-2) Alberta Golden Bears.

Other first year heroes, rookies that scored the game-winner late in the match are: Spencer Young at home versus Victoria on Aug. 27 the winner was scored in the 88th minute, Zach Rachynski on Sept. 17 at home versus Calgary in the 90'; Rachynski did it again the next day on Sept. 18 versus Lethbridge (87').

Five of the six UBCO wins have had the winning goal score later then the 87th minute. Karma has played a role however as the Heat have had three (1-0) loses this season where the goal against them was scored in the 83rd minute or later.

The loss ends a turbulent season for the Vikes who finish with a record of 5-10-1.

Heat drop penultimate home game to Huskies

UBC Okanagan lost their second to last regular season game at Nonis Sports Field to the visiting University of Saskatchewan Huskies on Saturday, October 22 as Heat women's soccer team was blanked (2-0) by their prairie foe.

Both teams had already clinched a playoff spot before this weekend, but the Huskies were tied for second place in the Prairie division and so were playing to cement home field advantage come the first round of the postseason.

The first half on Saturday saw no scoring, although the Saskatchewan attack forced Heat keeper Chloe Ainsworth to make a number of saves in the first 45 minutes. Erica Hindmarsh (fifth year midfielder), Rebecca Weckworth (fourth year midfielder), and Jackson Wiegers (second year midfielder) combined to put five shots on goal for the Huskies, all of which were stopped by Ainsworth.

Weckworth would be the only player to score in the match, as the speedy midfielder netted her fourth and fifth goals of the season in the second half.

The first goal of the match came in the 49^th minute when fourth year Huskies striker Leesa Eggum fed a free kick to Weckworth, who was able to get to the ball in a scrum just inside the 18-yard box and put it into the bottom right corner despite a big collision with Chloe Ainsworth. Ainsworth was subbed out as a result of the collision, and was replaced by first year Heat keeper Caralina Serrano.

Weckworth’s second goal of the match came in the 67^th minute on an assist from fourth year defender Jennifer Miller. Miller fed a pass into the top of the box, and Weckworth was able to beat Serrano with a low shot on her left, once again putting the ball in the bottom right corner of the net.

The Heat also had their best chances in the second half, the closest being a pair of shots that went off the left post of the Huskies goal.

The first chance to go off the post came in the 62^nd minute, when first year Heat midfielder Kylee Walker had a run up the left side and put a nearly perfect chip shot past fourth year Huskies keeper Kyleigh Vause that would have been a goal had it been half a foot to the right.

The second ball off of that same post for the Heat came in the 73^rd minute. Second year defender Ally Ferronato put a free kick into the box, and in a crowd first year defender Violet Bacon was able to get her head on it. The shot went off the post, and Vause was able to pull it in before the Heat could capitalize on the rebound.

In the first half Maddy Laranjo had an shot at putting the Heat on the board as she got a toe on a cross but the deflection sailed wide right.

Saskatchewan named Rebecca Weckworth their MVP for the match, and UBC Okanagan gave their MVP award to Maddy Laranjo.

After Saturday’s contest, the Huskies now hold a conference record of 7-3-3 and remain tied for second place in the Prairie division standing, as MacEwan also won their game Saturday and are also 7-3-3. The win also guarantees Saskatchewan home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs, as the rest of the division below them each have 3 wins with one game remaining.

UBC Okanagan now hold a record of 4-8-1, and will stay in sixth place in the Pacific division. In the first round of the playoffs, they will travel to Langley to play Trinity Western who have locked up the top spot in the division with an undefeated record of 11-0-2 with one game remaining.

Saskatchewan (7-3-3) will play their final regular season game Sunday, October 23 when they travel to Kamloops to play the Thompson Rivers WolfPack (1-11).

UBC Okanagan (4-8-1) will play their final match of the season on Sunday as well, when they host the University of Regina Cougars (4-6-3).

Casorso finishes season with top-15 finish at national tournament

James Casorso travelled to Prince Edward Island earlier this week to play in the 2016 PING CCAA Golf National Championship. The fourth year Heat golfer competed as an individual at the tournament hosted by Holland College at the Fox Meadow Golf Course in Charlottetown from Wednesday, October 19 through Friday, October 21.Casorso finished the three-day tournament with a final score of 222 (+6), putting him in a three-way tie for 12^th on the final leaderboard. He was in a tie for fourth at -2 after his first two rounds, but had a tough final round on Friday to drop out of the top ten.

His finish this year was an improvement over last year's result at the national championship, where James finished 15th.

The tournament’s opening round was the best of the three for James, as he shot a 70 (-2) on Wednesday. That round included five birdies, one of which came on the par-five 18^th.

He finished his second round with an even-par 72. The Thursday saw Casorso master the par-fives, as he parred the two on the front nine, and birdied both on the back nine, finishing once again with a birdie on the 18^th.

Friday’s round was an anomaly for Casorso. He shot 80 (+8) in his final round, despite earning three birdies on the day. The par-fives hit back in the third round, as he bogeyed the par-five 3^rd hole for the second time at the tournament, and took a 9 on the par-five 18^th.

Despite that tough final round, Casorso finished in the top 15 of the 77-man national field, and lived up to his newly-acquired title of All-Canadian. On Tuesday, October 18 he was named a CCAA Golf All-Canadian. James is only the third golfer from UBC Okanagan to receive that award.

The final round of the tournament ended in dramatic fashion, as a champion wasn’t declared until after an unexpected three-hole playoff. Conner Watt, a member of the Humber College Hawks golf team, was the lowest scorer of the tournament, finishing with 208 (-8). However, at the end of his third round he was disqualified after signing an incorrect scorecard.

As a result of the disqualification, the two players who had finished tied for second at 211 (-5), Josiah Dixon (Niagara College Knights) and Marc-Olivier Plasse (Cégep André-Laurendeau) had to play through three playoff holes to determine a national champion. Josiah Dixon won the playoff, and is now the reigning CCAA National Champion.