UFV men’s soccer player James Najman and women’s soccer player Shelby Beck are the UFV Cascades/Abbotsford Heat Athletes of the week, for the week ending on Sunday, October 20.
Najman was a one-man recking crew on the weekend. Knowing the UFV Cascades had to win both matches to have any hope of advancing to the CW playoffs, the second-year Kinesiology major set up both Cascade goals on Friday night with his persistence in the Dinos end of the field and on Saturday scored the first two goals, including the game winner, against Lethbridge and assisted on a the third goal to propel UFV to a 6-7-1 record for 19 points.
The Cascades will not know their post-season fate until this weekend is complete, but Najman certainly deserves the credit for his hard work. “Very proud of James this past weekend, he certainly carried our team on his shoulders and scored several critical goals,” said UFV head coach Alan Errington.
Major: Kinesiology
Year @ UFV: 2
Hometown: Surrey, BC
Position: Forward
Shelby Beck led UFV to two critical victories in the final weekend of the regular season to finish in 7th place with a 5-4-3 record for 18 points, one better than Regina Cougars at 17. Beck scored a natural hat trick against the Wesmen in the 4-0 victory and scored a fourth goal on the weekend and set up the winning goal by being fouled in the penalty box for the second UFV goal in the victory over Manitoba.
“Shelby was an attacking force off the bench in the second half and was able to make the game comfortable for us,” said UFV head coach Rob Giesbrecht.
Major: Criminal Justice
Year @ UFV: 2
Hometown: Langley, BC
Position: Forward
For more information, contact David Kent at david.kent@ufv.ca