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 […]

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.

Feature Podcast

Varsity Letters PODCAST visits with Laurier Primeau of UBC track, Ray Moon of Sun Devils football & Tom Lowndes of UFV men’s soccer

Welcome back, loyal listeners, to another episode of Varsity Letters — The Podcast, Canada’s only weekly podcast dedicated solely to the coverage of provincial and university high school sports. This week, our three guests are: *UBC’s Laurier Primeau, the head coach of Thunderbirds’ cross-country, and track and field, reflecting on last spring’s dual national championships, […]

UBC Thunderbirds players mob teammate Victory Shumbusho (9) after his second-half goal proved to be the winner in a 2-0 triumph over the host UFV Cascades on Friday in Abbotsford. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Soccer

UBC soccer coach Mike Mosher opens season No. 24 at the helm liking what he sees in 2-0 win over Fraser Valley Cascades

ABBOTSFORD — Point out to the seasoned general that he’s just opened up his 24th season of Canada West coaching with the UBC Thunderbirds, and Mike Mosher smiles before admitting that after a near-quarter century at the helm, you learn to trust your eyes.And what Mosher saw Friday from his team during a conference-opening 2-0 win […]

UFV Cascades' Gurmaan Jhaj attempts to split through the UBC defence during Canada West action earlier this season. With Jhaj igniting the offence, UFV is the only team in Canada West to take point from the Thunderbirds this season. (Photo by Dan Kinvig property of UFV Cascades' athletics)
Feature University Men's Soccer

UFV’s Gurmaan Jhaj: Whether in sport, the classroom or in business, Cascades’ striker is all about his goals

ABBOTSFORD — Gurmaan Jhaj may have just turned 22, but he’s already an expert in sharpening the saw and building success brick by brick.

Fraser Valley Cascades' freshman midfielder Anthony Vega (left, 5), a New Westminster Secondary grad, is one of a gaggle of rookies populating the roster of the Abbotsford-based U Sports program this season. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters)
Feature University Men's Soccer

UFV men’s soccer 2018: Cascades undergo a true culture change as 15 pure freshmen form program’s new foundation

ABBOTSFORD — It takes a pretty honest architect to unroll the blueprint and wield the eraser when the plans for a newly-poured foundation have barely had the opportunity to settle.

Charandeep Rangi (right) of the Fraser Valley Cascades steps in front of Simon Fraser Clan star midfielder Adam Jones on Saturday in Abbotsford. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature University Men's Soccer

UFV men’s soccer fashions resilient roster, young Cascades end preseason in 1-1 draw with SFU Clan

ABBOTSFORD —More depth. Better recruits.And maybe a chance to improve on the school’s U Sports’ regular-season wins record from a season ago?It’s a credit to the Fraser Valley Cascades men’s soccer program that those are its most prevalent preseason themes because if you do the math on paper, the team which opens Canada West conference […]