ABBOTSFORD, B.C. - David Bird's (5th year, Calgary, AB) goal in the 69th minute held up as the winner, giving the University of Calgary a 2-1 victory over University of the Fraser Valley in Canada West men's soccer action Sunday at Bateman Park in Abbotsford.

BOX SCORE

The Cascades, who beat Lethbridge and Calgary twice last season, opened the regular season Saturday with a 2-nil victory over Lethbridge, while the Dinos fell by the same 2-0 score at Victoria Saturday.

But Fraser Valley's domination of Southern Alberta teams fell by the wayside mainly due to a poor showing in the opening 45 minutes.

Sunday at Bateman Park in hot conditions, Calgary owned the first half and took a 1-0 lead to the dressing room at half time after Brian Delaney (4th year, Calgary) scored off a scramble in front of Fraser Valley keeper Kris Johannson (5th year, Delta, BC) in the 40th minute.

After a lacklustre first-half performance, Cascades head coach Al Errington's halftime speech appeared to light a fire under his players.

Fraser Valley came out running, and tied the game in the opening minute of the second half when Nick Turner's (4th year, Abbotsford, BC) long kick eluded Calgary keeper #J.P. Crescenzi# (4th year, Calgary, AB).

The game stayed tied, and was played at an even pace until midway through the second half, when Bird beat Johannson with what turned out to be the eventual winner.

 “I thought coming into the game that Calgary would be tired having played in Victoria the previous day, but we looked the most-tired of the two teams today. I'm disappointed in that, because I thought we would come prepared and ready for them,” said Cascades head coach Alan Errington. “We were out-worked in the first half, which really disappoints me. It appeared we thought we have a divine right to win at our home park, and that's not the case. You have to work and you have to earn it. Today they out-worked us, so they get the three points. But, it's not the end of the world. We'll re-group and get ready for the trip to Alberta and Saskatchewan next week.”

Calgary, which opened the Canada West season with a 2-0 loss in Victoria, evened its record at 1-1, and prepares for another trip west next weekend to face trinity Western and UBC.

For the Dinos, it will be an easier trip to make with a .500 record.

“We actually had a really good game against Victoria but didn't get the win. But, we've given ourselves some confidence by winning our first game and showed that we can compete against the other teams in Canada West. With that confidence, we got to stroke the ball around, play structured, play organized and take advantage of our opportunities when they came,” said Calgary head coach Ken Price. “It's nice to be in the mix with a lot of other 1-1 teams. In the past, we've had a tough road trip out here, and we've got two of them back-to-back, so it's nice to get the three points. Hopefully, we can add to that next week.”

The Cascades visit Alberta Sept. 19 and Saskatchewan the following day.

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