Game Recap

Men’s Soccer (Canada West)
Saturday, September 15, 2007
TWU Spartans (5) at the University of Victoria Vikes (3)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KEKEC DOES IT AGAIN
-TWU striker on fire with second straight hat-trick in Spartan win

VICTORIA - The top-ranked Trinity Western Spartans remained unbeaten with a 5-3 road victory over the University of Victoria Vikes. Spartans striker Adrian Kekec recorded the hat trick, his second this season.

‘We created a lot of great scoring opportunities and were very tidy with the ball,” said TWU head coach Al Alderson. “In the second half we gave UVIC a little bit too much room and as a result they had too many quality scoring opportunities. But it’s always tough to get a win in Victoria so it’s great to be coming back with three points.”

Defending Canada West champion Trinity Western (3-0-0) avenged a 2-1 pre-season loss to the no. 9-ranked Vikes (2-1-0) thanks to Adrian Kekec's (5th, Burnaby, BC) three-goal performance. Kekec had the helper in the Spartan's first goal, then scored his own in the 29th, 70th, and 75th minutes for the hat trick. Kekec now has six goals through just three games.
 
UVic trailed 3-1 after the first half of play, while waiting until the start of the second for the offense to develop. A flurry of activity in the Spartans' zone resulted in Vikes defender Craig Robertson (2nd, Victoria, BC) closing the gap to within one in the 53rd minute. Freshman Alex Redpath (Terrace, BC) set-up the scoring opportunity after drawing the keeper to the left side, then sending the ball wayward to Robertson from 10 yards out.
 
Despite several more quality scoring opportunities by UVic, TWU rookie 'keeper Andrew Fink (Burnaby, BC) kept the home side off the scoreboard before Kekec broke the Vikes' backs with consecutive goals coming in the 70th and 75th minutes. UVic striker Kelsey Louie (2nd, Powell River, BC) scored the final goal of the match in the 78th minute.
 
"It wasn't as close as what I would have expected," said UVic head coach Bruce Wilson. "We didn't show well today. We made some mistakes, and you definitely cannot afford to make mistakes against the no. 1-ranked team."
 
The Spartans were out-shot 27-20, and the Vikes owned a 15-9 shot advantage in the second half. Fink made seven saves, while UVic goalkeeper Dan Kilpatrick (2nd, Winnipeg, MB) made four stops. Kilpatrick's shut-out streak of 213 minutes came to an end after TWU's Justin Cordick (5th, Anmore, BC) opened the game's scoring in the ninth-minute.
 
UVic's first goal came in the 38th minute on a successful penalty-kick attempt by midfielder Miguel Romeo (2nd, Buenos Aires, Arg.). Five minutes later, TWU's Nathan Pogue (3rd, Seaside, Ore.) exhibited great ball control in pinpointing a strike to the right side from 20 yards out.
 
The Spartans will now head to Point Grey for a match-up with the University of British Columbia. Game time on Sunday afternoon is set for 2 p.m. at UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium.

Match Notes: Kekec now has 23 career goals for the Spartans. He is now tied for the with  Josh McCaig (’06) for the career goal scoring record...Kekec also holds the TWU record for goals in a season which he set last year with 17.

-TW-