CALGARY – Both University of Calgary Dinos soccer teams will finish their seasons against the teams with whom they opened the year, and with both teams still in the hunt for a top-four finish, victories are of the essence.

The lady Dinos struggled this past weekend on their west coast swing, and paid dearly for it in the standings. Losing by scores of 2-0 and 6-0 to Trinity Western and UBC respectively, they lost precious ground in the playoff race, with tough tests still upcoming.

Now eighth overall and four points back of the coveted fourth position in the standings, the Dinos will certainly need a sweep at home this weekend against the Fraser Valley Cascades and the University of Victoria Vikes to keep their fading playoff hopes alive.

No Dino hit the scoresheets in British Columbia, but the club still has a top ten conference scorer in Morena Ianniello, and has dynamic forwards Tessa Miller and Katie Blundell to lean on, who seem to do their best work in the friendly confines of the West Varsity Pitch.

Netminders Kristen Barton and Tara Ellis both struggled against UBC on Saturday night running into a red-hot Janine Frazao, who followed up a four goal outburst against Lethbridge with four more against the Dinos. Both 'keepers will need to regroup and work with a steadily improving defence to corral the key points in the standings this weekend.

Calgary gets its second chance at the Cascades after previously losing by a score of 4-0 in Abbotsford early in the season. Fraser Valley is led by Ellen Kuyer, who has five goals on the year, and their goalkeeper Chantelle Biagioni, who has played every minute for her team this season.

The Vikes sport both the top scorer and the top goaltender in Canada West in Kendra Flock, whose 11 goals account for all of her points, and Stephanie Parker, whose 0.50 GAA and 0.909 save percentage lead the conference. Victoria also beat the Dinos previously at home, winning by a score of 4-1.

After finishing seventh overall in 2008, the men are all of a sudden knocking on the door of the playoffs, after drawing  0-0 with the Alberta Golden Bears before beating the Saskatchewan Huskies 3-1 on their yearly prairie bus trip last weekend.

With the vital four points, the Dinos now sit only a point back of the Victoria Vikes and the fourth spot in Canada West with a game in hand, and are four points ahead of their next nearest challenger, the Fraser Valley Cascades. In a huge weekend home series against those two clubs, the Dinos can personally create much needed separation with a pair of victories.

With neither the Dinos nor Bears scoring in Edmonton on Saturday, Calgary was able to find the back of the net in Saskatoon with top defenders Joe Long and Matt Reid both scoring along with Devin Delany. Reid and David Bird, who assisted on Delany's goal, still lead the team in points with three apiece.

The story of the Dinos' season still revolves around their own net, however, as the combination of goalkeeper #J.P. Crescenzi# and defenders Long, Reid and Jeff Marsden has been rock solid all season long. Ranking near the top of Canada West in most defensive statistical categories, the grouping will need to finish the season in as strong a fashion as they started it.

Having already beaten the Cascades in their early-season west coast trip by a score of 2-1, Calgary goes into their Saturday game with a proven game plan already in mind. Robbie Fadden leads Fraser Valley with five points, which is good for a tie for third in the Canada West points standings.

In perhaps the game of the weekend in Canada West soccer, the Dinos and Vikes kick off on Sunday for their second match of the season after the Vikes took the first one in beating Calgary 2-0 at home. The Dinos have upset the Vikes on the West Varsity Pitch the past three seasons, using frigid late October Calgary weather to their advantage. Should the Dinos extend the streak to four this weekend, it could stand as the most important upset of the bunch.

The Vikes counter with plenty of firepower, and lean heavily on their 2008 All-Canadian Cole MacFarlane, who is up to his old tricks in 2009, sitting in second in Canada West points with six. The Vikes also sport a former second team Canada West All-Star in goal in Dan Kilpatrick, and have received solid play from him yet again in 2009.

-UC-