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Heat launch season with win and draw

UBC Okanagan men's soccer squad off to good start with victory over Victoria and tie against UBC
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Jeevin Kang and the Heat men's soccer team picked up four of a possible six points in their first two games of the Canada West season.

The UBC Okanagan Heat kicked off the 2016 Canada West men's soccer season on the right foot with a win and a draw on their home pitch.

On Saturday at Nonis Field, freshman Spencer Young slotted the lone marker late in the second half to lead the Heat to a 1-0 victory over the Victoria Vikes.

A Kelowna product, Young connected in the 88th minute from the 18-yard box on a pass from Robert Hamilton.

Mitch McCaw made a pair of saves in the Heat net for his first clean sheet of the season.

On Sunday, the Heat played to a 1-1 tie with the defending conference champion UBC Thunderbirds.

Luke Warkentin gave UBCO a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute, scoring on a rare misplay by all-Canadian keeper Chad Bush.

Kerman Mannu evened up the game in the 58th minute, beating McCaw to the lower left corner.

The T-Birds ended the match with 13 shots while the Heat had six.

Aside from Warkentin’s goal, the best chance for the Heat came on a free kick in the 51st minute, which Hamish Walde put off the right post.

In the 82nd minute of Sunday's game, Spencer Young was forced to leave the game after suffering an injury when he stopped a hard Thunderbird shot with his head.

The Heat (1-0-1) will take their unbeaten record on the road this weekend as they visit the Trinity Western Spartans (2-0-0) in Langley.

On Saturday, UBCO will be in Abbotsford to battle the Fraser Valley Cascades.