Vancouver Island University’s (VIU) Mariners Men’s Soccer Team won the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Men’s Soccer National Championships with a 1-0 victory over the Douglas Royals.
November 16, 2017 - 10:45am
Vancouver Island University team claims victory with 1-0 win over Douglas Royals
Vancouver Island University’s (VIU) Mariners men’s soccer team won the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Men’s Soccer National Championship.
Rain pounded Merle Logan Field, but the Mariners didn’t let the weather dampen their spirit and scored a goal in the first half of the game and hung on to win 1-0 over the Douglas Royals during the championship game November 11.
“The elation on the faces of players and coaches really made it a special moment,” said Stephanie White, VIU’s Director High Performance Sport, Recreation and Physical Literacy. “It’s always exciting to host a national championship, but to actually win the championship when you host is a dream for most institutions.”
White said there were more than 1,000 fans in the stands for the championship game and many of them jumped on to the field to celebrate with the players.
White said there was a high calibre of play at the nationals and the majority of games were close and some came down to penalty kicks.
“Winning Nationals is truly a feat,” said White, adding that it takes resiliency and months of preparation to deal with the challenges and conditions thrown at you during a championship.
Mariners Player of the Game was Colin Knight. Chris Merriman, Jordan DeGraaf and Ryan McCurdy were named Tournament All-Stars. Mariners’ Shun Takano was named MVP of the 2017 CCAA Men’s Soccer National Championship.
-30-
MEDIA CONTACT:
Rachel Stern, Communications Officer, Vancouver Island University
P: 250.741.2020 | C: 250.618.7296 | E: rachel.stern@viu.ca | T: @VIUNews
Tags: Athletics
