While his team posted an impressive victory in knocking off the previously-unbeaten and top-ranked team in the country, the Alberta Golden Bears, Trinity Western Spartans coach Mike Shearon was happy his team showed no let-down the following afternoon.
鈥淭he game on Saturday against Alberta doesn鈥檛 really mean anything if we don鈥檛 go and beat Calgary the next day,鈥� he said.
The Spartans beat the Golden Bears 2-0 on Saturday in Edmonton and then edged the Calgary Dinos 1-0 the next day.
鈥淭wo big wins 鈥� in the end, it is about putting two performances together each and every weekend in Canada West,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you can do that, you are starting to get things in the right place.鈥�
The weekend marked the start of the season鈥檚 second half as TWU improved to 5-2-3 on the season, which has them in second place in the Pacific Division with six games to play.
The victory over Alberta was also a measure of redemption for the Spartans as the Golden Bears had knocked them out of last year鈥檚 playoffs.
Domenic Poletto opened the scoring in the 36th minute before Joel Waterman 鈥� playing in his first game of the season 鈥� added an insurance marker in the 79th minute.
Sebastian Colyn made six saves and followed that up with a nine-save performance the following day in yet another clean-sheet victory against Calgary. His saves also included a penalty kick stop while the game was still scoreless.
Waterman broke the stalemate in the 62nd minute, scoring for the second consecutive game.
鈥淭here was a little more adversity (in the second game) and the guys hung in there,鈥� Shearon said. 鈥淭his weekend, the guys really came together and worked hard for one another and they really solidified themselves as a team.鈥�
The victories should help the team down the stretch drive as the regular season winds down.
鈥淚t just continues to build the team, continues to build the confidence, continues to help the guys know that each and every game they need to go out there and put the work in, and if they do, they are going to get the results,鈥� Shearon said.
The Spartans are back on the road this weekend with games on Saturday in Kelowna against the UBC Okanagan Heat and Sunday in Kamloops versus the Thompson Rivers WolfPack.
The Trinity Western women鈥檚 soccer team were also road warriors over the weekend, knocking off the UNBC Timberwolves 3-0 in Prince George on Friday and the MacEwan Griffins 1-0 in Edmonton on Sunday.
Jenaya Robertson, Rachel Hutchinson and Seina Kashima scored in the first game while Kathryn Harvey struck early in Sunday鈥檚 contest.
Christina Oliverio made a combined eight saves over the two games in posting a pair of clean sheets as the Spartans pushed their winning streak to three games.
鈥淲hen we play with desire and poise and mental focus, we can be a good team,鈥� said TWU coach Graham Roxburgh.
鈥淲e鈥檝e shown we can battle against probably one of the better teams in Canada West.鈥�
The two wins pulled the Spartans even with the Griffins at 4-2-0 on the season.
After back-to-back weekend on the road, TWU plays a pair of home games this weekend, hosting the UBC Okanagan Heat on Friday and the Thompson Rivers WolfPack on Saturday.
Both games are at 罢奥鲍鈥檚 Chase Office Field with a 5 p.m. kick-off.
