LVR's Mori makes his mark during his rookie CIS soccer campaign
By The Nelson Daily Sports
by Bruce Fuhr
The Nelson Daily Sports
Despite not playing the final weekend of the season, L.V. Rogers grad Luke Mori has “ no regrets” about his rookie season with the University of Calgary Dinos.
The Nelson Youth Soccer grad logged more minutes than past rookies and did not look out of place after making the jump from high school to CIS Canada West Men’s Soccer.
“I was told many first years don’t even see the field or get any playing time, so I feel (this season) was very successful,” the 18-year-old Mori told The Nelson Daily.
“I believe I saw the field for over half the games this season.”
Actually Mori was correct in his playing assessment.
The 5’10”, 160-pound midfielders played in eight games, starting once during the Dinos home opener.
Even though he didn’t find the back of the onion bag during that rookie season, as he did so often in youth and high school soccer, Mori gained a ton of experience.
“The season contained very intense training everyday of the week except for Monday, our day off and I met and made a large number of friends and contacts within the CIS association,” Mori said.
“So it was a very successful (year) for me and in getting my name known within university level of soccer.”
The Dinos finished the season with a 6-6-2 record.
However, Trinity Western Spartans of Langley knocked Calgary out of the playoffs during game 16 of the regular season campaign.
Dan Lowen’s stoppage time goal lifted the Spartans to a 1-0 win and the final playoff berth in the 2011 Canada West season.
The Dinos, entering the game trailing Trinity Western, needed a victory during the final game to secure a post-season spot.
The University of Alberta Golden Bears won the Canada West title, edging UBC Thunderbirds 1-0 in the final on a late goal by Marcus Johnstone.
Mori has already started work on next season. In between his studies in the Arts faculty, Mori has started playing indoor on a University Premier Team that includes teammates from the Dinos.
“I am very much looking forward to next season,” he explained.
“The team next year will be a lot different in playing style and I am looking to be a large impact within the team next year.”
“We started our season out strong and were ranked 10th in Canada for this first few weeks, next year I think our team will turn some heads and become a team that can compete in any game,” he added.
And no doubt Mori will play a big part of the improvement from his midfield position.
sports@thenelsondaily.com
