Friday night in front of a rabid crowd in Victoria, the UNBC Timberwolves (3-2-0) dropped a 3-1 decision to the Victoria Vikes (4-0-1). Yassin Guitouni struck three times for Victoria, including twice in the first-half. The lone goal in response for UNBC came from Hagon Kim off a header in the 62nd minute. Logan Pierce finished the night with eight saves in the UNBC goal while his counterpat Callum Weir made three saves for the hosts.
Logan Pierce made two saves early, both off Victoria's Matthew Pearse, while UNBC's first shot on target came in the 11th minute off Isaac Tate who was one of six Vancouver-Island Timberwolves who were playing in front of friends and family in the crowd.
In the 24th minute, Victoria went up 1-0 off a penalty-kick goal from Guitouni. Pierce dove to his left and made the initial save, but the momentum of the ball spun backwards and across the line.
The TWolves nearly answered back in the 33rd minute when rookie Josh Jordan placed a header square off the crossbar off a wonderful crossing effort, but unfortunately the ball stayed out.
Back came the Vikes with their second of the half, and again it was Guitouni. The Vikes forced a giveaway at midfield and Takin Keshavarz did well to use his speed to create a two-on-one opportunity. Keshavarz placed pass to his left to the waiting Guitouni who did the rest, placing a low shot past Pierce and home to secure his first-half brace.
The brace became a hat-trick in the 48th minute when Guitouni blasted home his third of the night off a setup from Matthew Pearse.
After a run of three straight corner kicks, UNBC was eventually rewarded on the third. Wyatt Lyon placed a perfect ball towards the back post, and Hagon Kim timed the jump perfectly and deflected it home for his first of the season.
That's as close as Steve Simonson's club would get on Friday though, as the Vikes were able to withstand a few scary threats in the late minutes.
The two sides won't have to wait long for a rematch as they're scheduled to square off again tomorrow night at 7:15 pm in Victoria.
