LANGLEY, British Columbia – A 74th-minute goal from Victoria's Dominic Colantonio broke open a scoreless contest and sent the No. 8 Vikes to a 1-0 win over the Trinity Western men's soccer team Friday at Rogers Field.

While both teams had strong possession at times, TWU (2-1-0) was unable to break through, while the Vikes Colantonio seized an opportunity on a counter-attack and knocked home the winner. Cam Hundal sparked the counter move and ultimately set up Colantonio to decide the game.

"One step here or there. That's the difference between success and failure," said Spartans coach Pat Rohla. "We have a good team. It's just one player like Cam Hundal on a counter attack when we're out of shape and that's the difference."

Despite a valiant effort from TWU goal Andrew Hicks (Surrey, B.C.), who stopped five of the six shots he saw, the Vikes (3-0-1) bested the Spartans with the game's lone goal.

The teams were even on total shots, with each team putting 11 on target, but TWU was held to just one shot on target while Victoria had six.

Vikes goalie Noah Pawlowski made one save to earn his third victory of the year.

"The balls were going through the box in the right areas to score, but we have to have the resolve to be that guy to score the goal," Rohla said. "The efforts were good and we have a lot of guys who can come in at a drop of a hat and be game-changers. What we lacked tonight was just that finish. We have good finishers, but it's just one step off. You have to score to win games."

The loss held TWU from earning a third straight win to start the season for the first time since 2007.

The Vikes had a strong opening half and largely overwhelmed a young Spartans side, but the visitors were unable to beat Hicks on five shots on target.

"It's one of those things where we told the boys at halftime that as poor as we played, we held them to 0-0," Rohla said. "I thought Hicks was tremendous in the first half. I thought if we came out and finished our chances in the second half, we'd could pull it out."

In the second half, the balance of play saw both teams take a few offensive swings, but it took Hundal's game-deciding counter attack to finally see an offensive foray prove fruitful.

The Spartans will now prepare to host UBC Saturday at 7:15 p.m. at Rogers Field. Victoria will travel to Fraser Valley Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Game Notes: TWU's Aidan Moore (Langley) and Vito Poletto (Calgary) both were issued yellow cards…the last time TWU won three straight to start the year was in 2007, when the Spartans earned six wins in a row to open the season.

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