Cascades score nine goals over two games on home opener weekend, women blanked twice on the road

The University of the Fraser Valley Cascades men’s soccer team blew up offensively during home opener weekend on Friday (Sept. 5) and Saturday (Sept. 6), scoring nine goals en route to two big conference wins. 

The nine goals are the most scored by the men over a two-day weekend since the 2012 squad scored 13 goals against Winnipeg and Mount Royal back on Oct. 26 and 27 of that year.

The weekend started off with a bang as the Cascades caught fire in the first half of Friday’s game against the TRU Wolfpack with four goals to cruise to a 5-0 win. Kevin Mailand scored a natural hat trick with three goals in 20 minutes and Michael Beercroft opened the scoring at 9:24. Mateo Brazinha added a goal in the 61st minute and also had an assist on Mailand’s third goal. 


Harjoven Sidhu contributed with two helpers and Cascades goalkeeper Matheus De Souza earned the shutout. 

“Guys were telling me I was going to score today, so I had a good feeling going into the game and then I was able to get the new ‘celly’ out. It’s good to get a couple and get everyone going,” Mailand said. “[The win] is a big step after the two tough games, so it’s a good one to have and we want to make home a fortress too.”

Cascades head coach Tom Lowndes said the win set the tone for how he wants his team to play at Rotary Stadium this season.

“I thought it was a real complete performance,” he said. “We talked before the game about making Rotary a horrible place for teams to come, and I thought we had a really good start. We were electric going forward and we probably could have had a few more goals, but I’m just proud of the effort overall.”

Mailand continued his strong weekend by opening the scoring just 50 seconds into the game on Saturday against the UBCO Heat. That goal stood until the 58th minute when Beercroft made it 2-0. Brazinha added goals at the 62nd and 87th minute to make it a 4-0 final. De Souza again finished with a clean sheet in the win.


“We thought we were building something special last year, and we wanted to build on that this year,” Brazinha said. “The hard work is showing on the pitch, and I’m delighted for the boys and the coaching staff.”

The men now have a record of 2-1-1 and sit in third place in the Pacific Division. The Cascades remain home and host the MacEwan Griffins (0-3-2) on Friday (Sept. 12) and the Mount Royal Cougars (4-0-1) on Saturday. Both games are set for 7 p.m.

It was a different story for the women, who were blanked 2-0 by TRU in Kamloops on Friday and then fell 1-0 to UBCO in Kelowna on Saturday. They have failed to score a goal in four road games so far this season and have just three goals in six games.

UFV has a record of 2-4 on the season and rank fifth in the Pacific. They next travel to the provincial capital to take on the Victoria Vikes on Sunday (Sept. 14).

For more on the teams, visit gocascades.ca.