Ian Whibley saved the best for last. The Errington product, out of Ballenas Secondary in Parksville, scored two late goals at 87 and 89 minutes to give the University of Victoria Vikes a dramatic 3-1 victory over the Grant MacEwan Griffins in Canada West men’s soccer action in cold conditions in Edmonton.
Whibley pushed his Vikes lead in goals this season to five. His heroics came after the Griffins (3-3-1) had tied the game 1-1 at 82 minutes through Liam Creek. Jack Hill’s second goal of the season for UVic had opened scoring at 22 minutes.
The Vikes (2-2-3) finished with four of a possible six points in their tour of Edmonton, which began Saturday with a scoreless draw against the undefeated and U Sports national top-10 ranked Alberta Golden Bears.
The Vikes continue the Alberta theme by hosting the Calgary Dinos (2-4) on Friday and Lethbridge (0-5-1) on Sunday, both at Centennial Stadium.
The UVic women’s soccer team (2-3), meanwhile, closed out its weekend account at Centennial Stadium with a 1-0 Canada West victory over the Lethbridge Pronghorns (0-4) on a goal by Nanaimo-product Rachel Baird at 14 minutes and shutout from Puck Louwes.
The Vikes host the Thompson Rivers WolfPack on Friday at Centennial Stadium.
FIELD HOCKEY: The UVic Vikes and UBC Thunderbirds split the difference in playing to a pair of draws as Canada West women’s field hockey action opened over the weekend in Vancouver.
UVic, trailing 2-0 in the opening half, got second-half goals from rookies and Canadian junior national team players Samantha McCrory and Erin Dawson to tie the seven-time defending national-champion Thunderbirds on Saturday.
The series ended Sunday in a scoreless draw with Canadian national team goalkeeper Rowan Harris of UBC and sophomore Robin Fleming of UVic earning the clean sheets in goal.
The Vikes head to Calgary on Saturday and Sunday for the Dinos’ conference openers.
