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 […]

Fraser Valley Cascades' rookie Bryana Buttar (centre) has played like a veteran over the first six matches of the 2019 Canada West season. (Photo by Dan Kinvig property of University of the Fraser Valley athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Soccer University Women's Soccer

Cascades are better with Bryana Buttar in the batter! Rookie a rare ingredient as UFV hunkers for huge weekend homestand vs. UBC, UVic

ABBOTSFORD — With the same clockwork precision she has shown at every key stage of her soccer career, Bryana Buttar has once again arrived ahead of her time.“I definitely feel that my whole youth career has set me up for this,” the Fraser Valley Cascades’ dynamic midfielder remarked Wednesday of the opportunity she has seized […]

Surrey-Kwantlen Park grad Taylor Nekic, entering her third season as a starting central defender, has helped lift the fortunes of Abbotsford's ever-improving Fraser Valley Cascades. (Photo by Dan Kinvig property of University of the Fraser Valley athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Soccer

First signs of a second wind? UFV’s gifted youthful core embraces opportunity as Cascades women’s soccer takes a hopeful forward step

ABBOTSFORD — You can’t really define a second wind, except to say that although invisible to the naked eye, it brings a presence which is undeniably uplifting.In a big-picture sense, that’s kind of how Rob Giesbrecht has felt throughout the course of the most demanding and perhaps most rewarding preseason in the history of Fraser […]

North Delta native Brittney Zacharuk has becoming a leading force in her fourth season with Abbotsford's Fraser Valley Cascades. (Photo by Dan Kinvig property of UFV athletics)
Feature University Women's Soccer

UFV’s Brittney Zacharuk: Cascades’ captain combines nails and glue as catalyst for Canada West consistency

ABBOTSFORD — Toughness and togetherness are a pair of attributes celebrated within the culture of one of the youngest U Sports women’s soccer teams in the nation.

Fraser Valley Cascades' sophomore central defender Simi Lehal (left) has a skill set that matches the pulse of her Canada West team. (Dan Kinvig/UFV Athletics)
Feature University Women's Soccer

Simi Lehal: How UFV’s super sophomore helped the Cascades re-invent their soccer identity

ABBOTSFORD — Soccer DNA may hold no official weight in scientific circles, yet if you’ve watched the play of Fraser Valley Cascades’ central defender and criminology major Simi Lehal the past two seasons, you can’t help but wonder if the beautiful game does indeed have a biology all its own.