Facing its most important three weeks of the season, the TRU WolfPack men's soccer team couldn't be feeling much better.

The WolfPack, which is 3-3-2 and fifth in the Pacific Western Athletic Association, is off to the coast this weekend, where it will take on the Douglas Royals (5-0-3) and Kwantlen Eagles (3-1-4).

TRU is coming off its best weekend of the season, having taken four points off the UBC-Okanagan Heat in a home-and-home set. The WolfPack secured a 1-0 victory in the Sunday home game when Oriol Torres scored a late goal.

"It's a good rivalry (with UBC-O) and the guys were pretty happy," said WolfPack co-coach Sean Wallace. "The attitude in training is a little better.

"The guys - it was a good result on a weekend when we should have (had a good result)."

The WolfPack, despite its strong weekend, remains outside of the playoff picture, in which four teams will qualify for the championship tournament in Squamish on Oct. 26-27.

Douglas and the Vancouver Island Mariners (5-0-3) are tied for first, with the Eagles and Langara Falcons (4-3-1) tied for third. Langara and Kwantlen are two points ahead of the WolfPack in that final playoff spot.

If the WolfPack has one advantage, it's that it plays its final four games at home.

On Oct. 13, TRU will welcome the Quest Kermodes (0-6-2), before playing host to the Falcons on Oct. 14, the Capilano Blues (1-4-3) on Oct. 20 and the Mariners on Oct. 21.

"We have to beat the teams (right) ahead of us, Kwantlen and Langara," Wallace said, "and try to get points off Douglas and VIU. If we do that, we should be good.

"I think it'll take another 10 points (to get to playoffs) . . . it could be even more."

Wallace is keeping his eyes on a trio of injured players - defender Corey Wallis (ankle) and midfielders Brandon Mendez (ankle) and Seb Gardner (knee).

"We're into the meat of the season," Wallace said. "We just cross our fingers that guys come out of games healthy . . . and able to make it through the rest of the season."

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The WolfPack women's soccer team, which also is on the road this weekend, appeared again in the No. 4 position in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association rankings.

TRU's women will head west for road games at Douglas (2-4-2) on Saturday and Kwantlen (3-2-3) on Sunday. Kwantlen is ranked 11th in Canada.

TRU's cross-country teams also appeared in the CCAA rankings - the men are ranked 11th, with the women 15th.

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Saturday will mark the start of the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League season for the WolfPack.

TRU will open against Trinity Western in Langley. Three of the league's other teams will open on Friday - the visiting Eastern Washington Eagles will play at Trinity Western, while the Selkirk Saints will play in Victoria.

The WolfPack's home-opener is scheduled for Oct. 12, when defending league-champion Victoria visits Memorial Arena. Game time is 8:30 p.m.

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The second round of the Big Kahuna B.C. Cup men's volleyball competition is set for Friday in White Rock and Vancouver.

The WolfPack, which defeated the visiting UBC-Okanagan Heat in the opener on Sept. 26, is to play the Trinity Western Spartans in White Rock on Friday. The Heat, meanwhile, will play the UBC Thunderbirds at Vancouver Tech Secondary.

The WolfPack and Spartans will play a non-B.C. Cup exhibition in Abbotsford tonight.

The B.C. Cup is a provincial competition between the four Canada West teams. The teams will play one exhibition match against the others, along with their two regularly-scheduled regular-season matches.

One point will be given for an exhibition victory, and two for each regular-season victory - the team with the most points at the end will win a $500 gift certificate to donate to a school of its choice.

Trinity Western and UBC-O will play their exhibition match in Langley on Saturday. The Spartans and Thunderbirds will meet in Abbotsford on Oct. 15, before the WolfPack wraps up the preseason portion of the B.C. Cup against the T-Birds in Vancouver on Oct. 20.

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It will be a busy Thanksgiving weekend for the WolfPack women's volleyball team, which is to play five matches at an exhibition tournament in Calgary.

TRU will be playing matches against the Alberta Pandas, Saskatchewan Huskies and host Mount Royal Cougars.

TRU spent Sept. 20-23 at a tournament in Regina, but lost outside hitter Brianne Rauch to injury. Rauch's status for the WolfPack's Canada West opener, scheduled for Oct. 26 against visiting UBC-Okanagan, is up in the air.

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TRU held a ceremony Tuesday to honour the more than 40 WolfPack athletes who have been deemed Scholar/Athletes.

Dr. Alan Shaver, TRU's president, played host to the event at the culinary arts centre. The athletes were recognized for achieving a grade-point average of at least 3.6.

Rolena de Bruyn, a member of the WolfPack cross-country running team, was the top female Scholar/Athlete, with a GPA of 4.27. Baseball's Alex Condon and soccer's Justin Smeaton tied for top male, at 4.30.

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The final tournament of the conference golf season is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in Chilliwack.

TRU has finished seventh at the first three tournaments. The CCAA championships are scheduled for Oct. 15-19 at Durham College in Oshawa.

mhunter@kamloopsnews.ca