Brittney Zacharuk celebrated her final home game and storied career at the University of the Fraser Valley in a big way last weekend.
On Saturday night, the fifth-year winger and women’s soccer team captain from Delta scored her seventh goal of the season and 23rd of her career to give her a share of the Cascades’ all-time goal-scoring record in a 4-2 win over the UBC Okanagan Heat.
The night before, Zacharuk scored twice and set up two more in a 4-2 come-from-behind win over Thompson Rivers, which clinched a playoff berth for the Cascades for the fifth straight season.
She was honoured in a pre-game Senior Night ceremony Friday and exited the game in the 30th minute where she was greeted on the sidelines by warm embraces from Cascades head coach Rob Giesbrecht and, in a classy gesture, UBCO bench boss Craig Smith.
“I think as I started jogging off I wasn’t realizing what was happening and as soon as I walked off and saw Craig, and he had coached me a couple of times, and he gave me that hug, it kind of hit me and I was teary eyed,” she recalled. “Then Rob comes over and I realized that this was it. I told myself you can’t cry. This is good, we’ve won, we’re going to the playoffs, but it was bittersweet, especially since it was my last home game.”
Earlier this season, she broke the Cascades’ all-time assists record and with her four points on Friday set a new all-time points record. Her final career tally is 23 goals, 19 assists and 42 points. For the season she finished with seven goals and six assists, tied for fourth in Canada West in assists and points and tied for sixth in goals.
Zacharuk attended Holy Cross Secondary and played her club soccer at TSS Academy.
She was a relatively late signing as part of the Cascades’ 2015 recruiting class.
“It’s been everything that I could have hoped for and more,” Zacharuk said. “I found a home here. I fit right in and I don’t regret anything. The years have molded me into the player and person that I am. The culture of the team and the girls and the athletic department and the atmosphere is tremendous. It’s a family. Everyone supports each other. I found people that I could lean on and support my growth.”
Giesbrecht called Brittany a special player.
“It’s been a journey. She’s been a consistent contributor and probably exceeded expectations coming in and in her fourth and fifth years put up huge numbers and really spearheaded our attack,” said Giesbrecht. “She has progressed as a leader as well and leading by example. She has a great influence on games. Her development as a person, as leader and as an athlete has been fun to watch over these five years.”
The Cascades finished fifth in the Pacific Division, and will be playing in a playoff quadrant at Trinity Western. The Cascades face the Alberta Pandas in the first round Friday with the winner facing the host Spartans on Sunday in the quarter-finals.
This is the third straight year the Cascades have been in a playoff quadrant at Trinity Western. In 2017 and 2018, they won their first-round matches before losing to the Spartans in the quarter-finals by matching 1-0 scores, including in double overtime in 2018.
“One of the biggest things we’ve been focusing on this season is putting the scoreboard aside and being in the moment. We don’t look at the past or the future, but focus on the task at hand,” Zacharuk said. “So it’s Alberta first and focus on that task and then look to Saturday.”
| Cascades captain @b_zacharuk on what it means to her to pass @levarsky09 for the Cascades all-time points record. pic.twitter.com/yVd39xKvbv
— UFV Cascades (@UFVCascades) October 19, 2019
