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Wednesday May 23, 2012


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    'Pack knows job: Win and get in

    file photo

    Hans Schranz (17) and the TRU WolfPack are in a battle with two other teams — including Dustin Luck’s UBC-Okanagan Heat — for a PacWest playoff spot.

    A Tuesday ruling was kind to the UBC-Okanagan Heat, but it didn't change much for the TRU WolfPack.

    The WolfPack is scheduled to play its final matches of the Pacific West Athletic Association regular season on the weekend. TRU (3-3-3) will take on the Capilano Blues (3-4-2) in North Vancouver on Saturday and the Vancouver Island Mariners (6-1-2) in Nanaimo on Sunday.

    VIU is the only team in Group B to have clinched a playoff spot - the WolfPack, Blues and Heat (4-2-3) are fighting for two remaining spots.

    The Heat got an unexpected boost Tuesday when PacWest ruled that the Langara Falcons had used an ineligible player in a 2-2 draw in Kelowna on Sunday. UBC-O was awarded the victory, leaving the Heat three points ahead of the WolfPack instead of one.

    Sean Wallace, co-head coach of the WolfPack, said nothing changes for his squad.

    "We need to win on Saturday," Wallace said. "We're not worried about catching UBC-Okanagan, we're worried about making the playoffs."

    Because the WolfPack still sits a point ahead of the Blues, a victory in Capilano would clinch a playoff spot.

    TRU certainly had a better shot at catching the Heat before the ruling - now, if TRU wins Saturday, Capilano will have little for which to play Sunday, meaning UBC-Okanagan should manage an easy victory to lock up second.

    Wallace isn't worried about where the WolfPack finishes - as long as it's in the top-three in Group B. If TRU makes the playoffs, it could be dangerous, the coach contends.

    "This weekend, we'll find out what kind of team we have," Wallace said. "I think this team has underachieved a little . . . and we might be tough to beat in the playoffs."

    That has been the case before - just last season, the Mariners, who went on to win the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association title, needed overtime to beat the WolfPack in a provincial semifinal.

    And, in 2008, the WolfPack topped the favoured Douglas Royals in a semifinal, before losing 3-1 to Capilano in the provincial final.

    The WolfPack has played tight with PacWest's top teams - TRU tied the Douglas Royals 2-2 on Sept. 11, and lost 1-0 to VIU on Oct. 1.

    "We always seem to have really good games with (Douglas and VIU)," Wallace said. "We know we can compete with them."

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    he WolfPack women's soccer also will finish the PacWest regular season against the host Blues and Mariners, and is looking at possibly finishing first in Group B with a pair of victories.

    TRU (5-1-3) is two points back of the Heat (6-1-2), which also plays the Mariners (5-4-0) and Blues (3-4-2) on the weekend.

    The WolfPack already has clinched a playoff spot.

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    he PacWest playoffs, by the way, are scheduled for Oct. 27-29 in Kelowna. Six women's and six men's teams will qualify.

    The PacWest champions will compete at the CCAA championships in Quebec City from Nov. 9-12.

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    he WolfPack baseball team has scheduled a pair of weekend doubleheaders against the Okanagan A's in Kelowna.

    The WolfPack was supposed to have finished its fall exhibition season at the Thanksgiving Classic tournament at NorBrock Stadium. The tournament didn't end well, as WolfPack infielder Tyler Lowey lost his right eye after fouling a pitch into it.

    According to a TRU press release, WolfPack head coach Ray Chadwick didn't want the players to go into their offseason with the incident on their minds, so scheduled the Saturday and Sunday games.

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    he WolfPack women's basketball team is in Nova Scotia to take part in the Capers Fall Classic at Cape Breton University.

    TRU's first game is Friday against the host Capers. The WolfPack also will play Beijing Great Wall of China on Saturday and the McMaster Marauders on Sunday.

    These are TRU's final exhibition game before opening the Canada West season against the Fraser Valley Cascades on Nov. 4.

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    t's not quite the journey the women are facing, but the WolfPack men's basketball team is scheduled to play three games at a tournament at UBC in Vancouver.

    TRU has games scheduled against the Concordia Stingers, the Memorial Sea Hawks and the Laurier Golden Hawks.

    The WolfPack also will compete at a tournament in Abbotsford next weekend before opening against the Cascades on Nov. 4.

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    he annual preseason men's volleyball match between the WolfPack and the UBC-Okanagan Heat should be an intense affair.

    The WolfPack is to play host to the match on Friday, 7:30 p.m., at the Tournament Capital Centre. The Heat, which is new to Canada West this season, won last year's match.

    Adding to the intensity is the fact that there will be 68 teams in town for the Junior Howler high school tournament, and plenty of those players should be in attendance at the TCC.

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    he WolfPack badminton team, which is to play host to the PacWest and CCAA championships, opens its season with a weekend tournament in Nanaimo.

    Joey Chu and Anica Arduini, both third-year players from Kamloops, will lead the team this year, as will Marlee Mertens, a fifth-year player from Salmon Arm, and Garrett Babichuk, a fourth-year player from Kelowna.

    Provincials are scheduled for Feb. 18-19, with the CCAA championships to go March 1-3.

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    imon Fraser is the next opponent on the WolfPack hockey team's schedule.

    The WolfPack is scheduled to play SFU in Burnaby on Saturday. SFU will come to Kamloops for a game Oct. 28.

    TRU is 2-2-0 in B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League action; SFU is 3-0-0.

    SFU has won the last two BCIHL championships, beating TRU in the final of both.

    mhunter@kamloopsnews.ca


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