The Quest men's varsity soccer club showed they are ready to enter the British Columbia Colleges' Athletic Association (BCCAA) next season by beating the Kwantlen Polytechnic University Eagles on home turf Sunday night (Nov. 9).Recently healed up from injuries, the Kermodes dominated the friendly under hot lights and amidst light showers and puffs of fog. They got down a goal early but quickly responded for a 6-3 victory."I think it's absolutely massive for us," said head coach Adam Day. "At times we made them look very, very ordinary. I think our passing and moving was too good for them at times and there was a spell in the second half where you could see their frustration."Kwantlen, which finished fifth in the eight-team BCCAA this season with five wins, six losses and three draws, scored in the first minute when Quest turned over the ball in the backfield. But the Kermodes responded by knocking in a penalty kick.Mawuena Mallet put Quest ahead 2-1 before the end of the half when he broke in one-on-one with the Kwantlen goalkeeper and blasted a kick low right side.The Eagles capitalized on a fluky free kick from outside the 18-yard box. Quest keeper Lucas Menz had the goal well covered but the ball bounced out his arms and sneaked into the net.That's when the Quest offence went on a tear and scored four consecutive goals. One particularly impressive goal started with a well-placed cross that Davis Wallington got his head on for the score. The Kwantlen keeper didn't have a chance. Day was really impressed by the Kermodes ball movement."Going forward we were fantastic tonight. I mean, Kwantlen finished fifth in the league last year and we put six past them. It could have been seven or eight," he said. "This was a test for us of who we are and where we've come the last two months."The team allowed three goals against but each was due to individual mistakes - not general team inefficiencies. Those breakdowns are easier to correct. Meanwhile, Day is pleased to see team identity forming, he said."The main characters on this team are slowly coming to the front now. "The guys that we are going to build the program around we're depending on, and they're starting to become more vocal."
