The Martlet

A cry not heard in Victoria since 1975 echoed throughout Centennial Stadium on Sunday afternoon as the Vikes men’s soccer team claimed the 2011 Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championship. More than 3000 full-throated fans cheered their team to a convincing 3-1 win over Saint Mary’s University (SMU) in the final. This marked UVic’s second national title on home soil and the fifth in program history.

While this may have been head coach Bruce Wilson’s third national victory in 24 years, he says it’s also the sweetest.

“This obviously rates number one for me, first of all because of the results and secondly because of the crowd,” says Wilson.

The Vikes won three games en route to the banner — a 3-2 (4-2 in penalty kicks) decision over the Montreal Carabins on Thursday evening, a 3-2 regulation win against the Cape Breton Capers on Friday, and Sunday’s 3-1 victory over SMU to top it off. Centennial Stadium boasted a crowd of 3 000 for the final match.

“Epic. Definitely epic,” says Vikes goalkeeper Elliot Mitrou of the experience. “I’m so happy that many people came out and supported us. It helped us so much.”

Centre-back Gavin Barrett also acknowledges the support, though he admits the experience was initially intimidating.

“There was a lot of nerves going into that first game,” says Barrett. “[It was] the first time in front of that many fans for most of us”

The old roller coaster cliché for back and forth games could work to describe the Vikes’ opening match against Montreal, so long as the roller coaster riders were blindfolded. And riding without straps. And the coaster was built over lava and sure to collapse. Sounds dramatic? Well, so was the game.

After the Vikes went down a goal early in the first half, Barrett headed home a corner to draw his team level before the interval. The hard fought second half yielded no goals. Neither did the first half of overtime. The breakthrough came in the 111th minute — for Montreal.

“I was crushed obviously when that happened,” says Mitrou, “but there was time and we knew we could do it.”

Instead of collapsing with despair the Vikes lifted their heads and charged. Three minutes later, off another corner kick, Barrett bundled through a couple of defenders and nodded home his second tally of the night. The stadium exploded.

“It was unbelievable,” says Barrett. “When I scored I could hear the crowd just erupt.”

“I’ll never forget the corner kick,” says Wilson. “That was a huge goal with very little time left.”

Disaster averted. The home team cruised to a 4-2 shootout win.

The Vikes second game, while not quite as harrowing, had its share of nail-biting moments as well. This game had a hero, too: midfielder Cam Hundal. In this, his freshman year with the Vikes, Hundal was named the Canada West rookie of the year and was nominated for CIS rookie of the year.

Hundal helped set up a Peter Richmond goal before slotting one of his own — both within the first 21 minutes. It looked as though the home team would cruise to an easy semi-final victory. Cape Breton had other ideas, however, and scored on a penalty kick before halftime. Early in the second half, the Capers tied it up.

“We gave up that two-goal lead but we just stuck with it,” says Hundal. “We were really focused. That’s why we were able to get [another goal].”

With 13 Vikes in either their fourth or fifth year of eligibility this year, the value of experience was an early season storyline. And while leadership certainly played a part in the season’s success, so too did the injection of young talent.

Victoria-native Craig Gorman was another contributing rookie. During the season, Gorman lead the Vikes in goals with seven. Hundal had three himself. More often than not, the two set each other up.

“It was a special year,” says Wilson. “They connected well.”

The two connected again for the third and game-winning goal in the semi-finals. Hundal gained some space on his defender with one of his signature changes in pace and got the ball across the goalmouth.

“I just thought, Gorman’s going to be at the back post,” he says. “I didn’t even look. I just played the ball and he was there to finish it.”

But while Hundal drove the Vikes offense, Dave Adams was recognized for his explosive control of the centre of the park.

“He’s not flashy,” says Wilson of the fourth-year midfielder, “he doesn’t score a lot of goals, but wow, he’s a leader on the park.”

Fellow midfielder Wesley Barrett also saw Adams as one of the Vikes’ keys to the finals. “He’s underrated, but such a strong player.”

Like his brother Gavin, Wesley had a chance to put his mark on the championship and didn’t waste it. Partway through the first half against SMU, Wes found himself with the ball and some space. He put his head down and bent a shot around a flat-footed keeper for a 1-0 lead.

“I looked at the replay later and if I’d thought pass I could have put [Hundal] in on a breakaway,” Wesley says. “He didn’t need it though.”

No, he didn’t. Hundal kicked off the second 45 with a half-volley wonder strike that beat the SMU keeper and found the top corner. Although SMU pulled one back through a goal Wesley describes as “a series of unfortunate events,” UVic clinched its title with less than 10 minutes left. And who else to make it happen but the Hundal-Gorman freshmen connection.

A little while after coming on as a sub, Gorman ran down an opponent at the sideline and snaked the ball off him. He turned and beat another opponent, nut-megging him before shouldering past yet another SMU player on the goal line and slotting the ball across the goalmouth where Hundal was there to tap in the insurance goal.

“The most important thing between us is whenever one of us gets the ball, the other one’s always really optimistic,” says Hundal. “We know he’s going to beat his opponent and get the ball across. We just believe in each other.”

For his efforts, Hundal earned the tournament’s Most Valuable Player Award — not bad for his first year in the league.

“It’s nice to win individual awards and all that, but the ultimate goal is to win championships,” says Hundal.

And while Wilson and his coaching staff could be forgiven for taking some time off to revel in this victory, they’re already rubbing their hands in anticipation of the future. Wilson leaves this weekend to watch the B.C. High School Boys Soccer Provincials.