Brent Mutis
CapU sport info
Needing a win to keep alive any chance at the PACWEST provincial tournament, the Capilano Blues produced perhaps the gutsiest win in the last five seasons in a 1-0 triumph over the Vancouver Island University (VIU) Mariners Sunday in Nanaimo.
The win came with the Blues minus several key players due to injury or yellow card accumulations. After a 1-0 loss to VIU Saturday, CapU took the field Sunday without defender Riley Marshall, midfielder Alex Lopez and defender Luca Dal Sasso yet managed to get the three points to keep pace with the third-place Mariners.
It was a first-half goal from Sebastian Cirotto, the rookie's fifth of the season, that stood up as the winner. Cirotto ran onto a clearance from Tommy Millar and, as he has done all season, showed poise and skill on the ball in slotting the ball left-footed past the VIU keeper.
That was in the 12th minute yet the Blues were stout enough defensively and again got expert goalkeeping from Brandon Lecce, who recorded his first PACWEST clean sheet, to go the remaining 80-plus minutes and take the win.
The result moves CapU to 2-5-3 in the PACWEST standings, the nine points putting them one behind VIU.
On Saturday, a VIU goal early in the second half was all the scoring in a 1-0 Mariners win. CapU was without Adam Majuerae for the contest owing to a card accumulation though he was back in action Sunday.
The final weekend of the PACWEST season is all that remains and Capilano will be at home twice to finish up. The Blues host Douglas College on Saturday, Oct. 21 in a 3:30 p.m. start and face Langara College the next day with kickoff at 2:30 p.m.
