Party Like It's 1987

#2 VIU Mariners @ #1 Langara Falcons – Sunday October 30, 4:30pm | WATCH HERE

For the first time since 1987 the Falcons and Mariners will square off for PACWEST gold.  Both teams already know they have clinched a berth in the CCAA national championship with the Falcons as the host of the tournament.

It’s been so long since these two schools met in the gold medal game that they had different names 35 years ago.  At that time Langara College was Vancouver Community College while VIU was referred to as Malaspina.  Just for the record the Falcons won that game in 1987.

The Falcons are the top seed and earned a bye after finishing first in the standings and play for gold for the first time since 2018.   That season they were defeated by the Capilano Blues but still earned a wildcard berth to the national championship in PEI where they finished fifth.  The last time they won gold in the PACWEST was in 2001.

They have the top offence in the Conference scoring 27 goals while giving up the fewest at 13. In five games this season, they didn’t allow the opposition to score.  They would also outscore the Mariners 6-3 in the seasonal series.

In the previous four games with the Mariners the Falcons won two of them and believe it or not, their last meeting ended in a 0-0 draw.  Athos Mchellepis de Siqueira had two of their six goals in the seasonal series and keeper Blake Charlesworth earned a pair of shutouts and was in goal during the 0-0 tie making two saves.

This game will feature the top three goal scores in the Conference.  Michellepis de Siqueira and teammate Takumi Ota each scored nine times while Vasilis Bagiopoulos of the Mariners responded with eight.  He didn’t score against the Falcons in the seasonal series.

The Mariners are in this gold medal game after dumping the defending PACWEST champion Douglas Royals 2-0 in Saturday’s semi-final.  Bagiopoulos tallied both goals.

They will need to find a way to solve the Falcons back line and their keeper.  In the four meetings with the Falcons during the regular season, they scored just three times all in one game.   Including their semi-final win on Saturday the Mariners have not lost in six straight and have allowed only three goals over that span.

They are playing in their third straight PACWEST gold medal game but haven’t won since 2011.  That said, they won a CCAA gold medal in 2017 as the host seed.

Head-to-Head

Records: Mariners 5-2-5 – Falcons 7-3-2
Goals For: Mariners 15 – Falcons 27
Goals Allowed: Mariners 14 – Falcons 13

Leading Scorers: Billy Bagiopoulos – 8 (Mariners) - Athos Mchellepis de Siqueira and Takumi Ota – 9 (Falcons)