The Vancouver Island University Mariners got one last round of applause from home fans as they get ready to play the rest of their season on the road.
The men's and women's soccer teams played Pacific Western Athletic Association matches Saturday and Sunday at Mariner Field, hosting the Langara Falcons and the Quest Kermodes, respectively.
The men's team was able to score a pair of wins, coming back to beat the Falcons 2-1 on Saturday and then blitzing the Kermodes 5-0 the next day.
In the first game the visitors scored on a penalty kick early and maintained the slim lead until late in the second half, when Blaze Roberts entered the game and scored the tying goal and the winning goal.
The next day the M's came out firing as Stephen Ewashko scored two goals, then Roberts added two to give the home team an insurmountable 4-0 lead at halftime. Jordan DeGraaf added a second-half goal and Robbie Cochrane and Dan Mercer shared the shutout.
VIU's women weren't able to pick up a victory in their final homestand, falling 1-0 to Langara and then tying Quest 0-0.
Sunday's draw was another hard-luck result for the Mariners as they had several chances at a go-ahead goal and thought they scored one in the 88th minute when Emily Nicholson seemed to score but the ball ended up behind the net.
"Wow, we've had absolutely no luck this year…" said Anup Kang, M's coach, in a press release. "What looked like a sure goal and it goes through a small hole in the net and fell in behind. Fans sitting in behind the net are sure the ball went in."
GAME ON … The Mariners men's and women's soccer teams head to the mainland to face the Kwantlen Eagles on Saturday (Oct. 13) and the Douglas Royals on Sunday.