NANAIMO — The VIU Mariners kick off the Pacwest soccer season with a pair of road games.
Both the Men and Woman have games at Douglas College and Langara on opening weekend.
Last season saw second place finishes for both sides in the league standings and a berth in the Provincials.
The Women had a second place showing, while the Men came in fourth.
Expectations are high for both squads heading into the season from returning Men’s Coach Bill Merriman and the incumbent Women’s bench boss Anup Kang.
Kang stresses the importance of health for his squad in 2016.
“I think if we stay injury free we have the potential to be right up there. With some luck we’ll have an opportunity to win it,” said Kang.
Coach Merriman has designs on a championship as well.
“I think we have the talent to do it, it’s just a matter of we all know the Pacwest and how tough it is,” said Merriman.
“If we put all the pieces together in the right places and at the right time I think we definitely have the team to do it. It’s obviously nice to have someone like Victor Blasco back in the lineup as well. Having him back is going to be a huge help for us.”
Blasco brings USL experience with the Vancouver Whitecaps playing for WFC2. As always the Pacwest schedule is condensed.
VIU will have 12 matches between September 10th and October 23rd.
The Mariners first matches are Saturday at 1pm (Men’s) and 3:30pm (Women’s) at Douglas followed by games at noon and 2:30pm at Langara on Sunday.
