Hugged by Trevor Zanatta and surrounded (left to right) by fellow teammates David Parfett (23), Ryan Donald and Ajai Boparai is Cascades' striker Manpal 'Manny' Brar, celebrating the goal that capped his comeback from back-to-back ACL surgeries. (Photo by Tanner Geringer property UFV Athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Soccer

UFV’s Manpal Brar: After six years, two ACL surgeries… & two goals in two minutes, Cascades’ battle-scarred striker tells his story through a soccer rebirth!

ABBOTSFORD — Manpal Brar can’t look at the photograph above without feeling every step of his journey.“Every time I do, all the pain, all the tough times, they all came out in that very moment,” relates the Fraser Valley Cascades’ battle-scarred third-year forward.To pinpoint it precisely, we’re in the 36th minute of the Cascades’ Canada […]

They first met in 1993 at Trinity Western when Rob Giesbrecht (right) was a third-year player and Graham Roxburgh a first-year men's assistant coach. Twenty-eight years later, their friendship endures as the pair reunite for the 2021 Canada West season. (Photo by Scott Stewart property of Trinity Western athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Soccer

TWU women’s soccer 2021: Seventeen years after an historic run to 2004 national title, Giesbrecht, Roxburgh re-unite Friday on Chase Field sidelines as Spartans open new season!

LANGLEY — Graham Roxburgh and Rob Giesbrecht first met on the practice pitch at Trinity Western University more than a quarter-century ago.And ever since crossing paths in their early 20’s, they’ve not only worked together, they’ve just spent the past decade scheming against each other.Along their parallel journeys, the pair formed a bond as soccer […]

UBC's Brad Richardson (top) and SFU's Niko Papakyriakopoulos were in dogged pursuit of a loose ball Friday as SFU hosted UBC at Fox Field. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Soccer

SFU vs. UBC: Friday’s men’s soccer derby clash at new Fox Field Stadium proves nothing has wilted in Lower Mainland’s oldest cross-town rivalry!

BURNABY — The Lower Mainland’s most enduring university men’s soccer rivalry unfolded Friday evening as it always has, and the best part of all? It had nothing to do with the final score.Simon Fraser against visiting UBC within the home team’s new stadium complex at Terry Fox Field, complete with an actual rousing crowd.“It’s massive,” […]

Simon Fraser men's soccer coach Clint Schneider looks hopefully to the future, but hasn't lost sight of the lessons his team has learned over the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic and a cancelled GNAC season. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Simon Fraser athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Soccer

“I have hope” says coach Clint Schneider: Each socially-distanced step an important part of Simon Fraser soccer’s journey to a hopeful 2021 season!

BURNABY — Will B.C. university sports in 2020-21 go down in history as the lost season?Or will the passing of time perhaps confirm a radically different conclusion, more akin to the season which taught all concerned a level of lessons more impactful than any could have imagined?Spend a few moments chatting with Simon Fraser University […]

Holy Cross Crusaders senior Logan Mathers may have played on his school's senior varsity basketball team, but soccer is his blue-chip specialty and the Surrey United goalkeeper is on his way to a U Sports career starting this fall with Abbotsford's Fraser Valley Cascades. (Photo by Jeff Dadson property of Holy Cross athletics 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Soccer

Logan Mathers: How the Fraser Valley Cascades’ big-ticket soccer recruit learned what it means to truly stand tall

ABBOTSFORD — Logan Mathers has always been the tallest kid in the park.And although the 6-foot-6 goalkeeper ultimately reached his lofty height without one of those sudden spurts of verticality, the latest recruit of the Fraser Valley Cascades soccer team has never forgotten about the day he experienced his greatest growth.“In the moment it hurt,” […]

Fraser Valley Cascades central defender Sahib Sidhu has come to represent the true essence of the student-athlete as both a rising star with men's soccer team and a top scholar at the Abbotsford school. (Photo by Dan Kinvig property of University of the Fraser Valley athletics 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Soccer

He’s a Big’un! Yet these days, it’s not just size and physicality that makes UFV Cascades’ centre back Sahib Sidhu a force to be reckoned with

ABBOTSFORD — His nickname is Big’un, and it’s one that University of the Fraser Valley central defender Sahib Sidhu has worn every bit as naturally as the spacious No. 22 Cascades’ jersey he first pulled on in the fall of 2018.“When they come in as first-years, you look at them and you say ‘That’s a […]

Giving his Cascades' teammates a pair of shoulders to lean on, UFV's fifth-year senior captain and all-time program scoring leader Gurmaan Jhaj closes out his U Sports' regular-season career this weekend with a playoff berth on the line in the nation's toughest conference. (Photo by Dan Kinvig property of University of the Fraser Valley athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Soccer

A Jhaj of greatness: Amidst the emotion of UFV seniors night, Cascades’ all-time scoring leader Gurmaan Jhaj must summon his best game

ABBOTSFORD — Gurmaan Jhaj has brought a rare talent to the fore over the course of his university soccer career with the Fraser Valley Cascades.

Over a UBC soccer career in which he has taken a redshirt season and a two-year sabbatical, Surrey's Sean Einarsson is looking to win a national title for the first time since 2013. The 'Birds journey continues this week with the Legend's Cup series against Victoria. (Photo by Ben Nelms property of UBC athletics 2019. All rights reserved)
Feature University Men's Soccer

Book-ends forged in gold? For UBC midfielder Sean Einarsson, a return to Thunderbird nation could well include a fairy-tale finish!

VANCOUVER —  When Sean Einarsson decided to return to the home of Canada’s most decorated men’s university soccer program two seasons ago, it was with the hope that he could fashion a finish to his career which would be every bit as satisfying as its storybook start.It was back in 2013 when the redshirt freshman […]

TWU midfielder Domenic Poletto, while still nursing his way back to the lineup following a torn ACL, is all smiles about the future of Spartans' soccer and its class of blue-chip freshen players. (Photo by Scott Stewart property of Trinity Western athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Soccer

Renaissance in Sparta: Through the eyes of injured vet Poletto, blue-chip rookie class symbolizes a re-birth for Trinity Western men’s soccer

LANGLEY — Domenic Poletto was at a career crossroads late this past summer, but getting a chance to see the future of Spartans’ men’s soccer has him counting the days until his official return.Trinity Western’s leading point-getter a season ago as a standout central midfielder, Poletto had been a driving force in the resurgence of […]

Simon Fraser's Devin O'Hea is that rare student-athlete able to make the switch fro football to soccer. (Photos by Jacob Hall and Paul Yates property of Simon Fraser Clan athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Soccer

The unique talents of Simon Fraser’s Devin O’Hea: Clan’s super sophomore makes the rare switch from football receiver to soccer striker

BURNABY —  For his entire athletic career, Devin O’Hea has had a tough time defining which version of football best fit his definition of The Beautiful Game.That is, until this season, when one of the most rare dual-sport athletes in a half-century plus of Simon Fraser Clan athletics decided it was time to look at […]