On Sunday, Aug. 4, the Victoria Harbourcats secured a Western Conference League (WCL) playoff spot, despite losing 3-2 to the Bellingham Bells.
“It’s been an up-and-down season, but the players continue to put the work in, they continue to believe in the process,” said the Harbourcats' head coach Todd Haney. “A testament to their resolve, they have an opportunity to win a championship.”
Injuries, a roster in-flux – the Harbourcats have had a lot to overcome this season. Despite these challenges, this is the fourth consecutive year the team has made the playoffs.
“I’m proud of what we’ve built here and looking to continue to expand on that,” said Haney. “Everybody’s very excited about the opportunity.”
With 28 wins, the Harbourcats rank fourth in the WCL’s North Division behind the Wenatchee AppleSox (34 wins), the Bellingham Bells (31 wins) and the Edmonton Riverhawks (31 wins). Teams are still competing, so it isn’t clear who the Harbourcats will play first.
From Thursday, Aug. 8 until the end of the season, the team will no longer have access to Royal Athletic Park, which will be used to host the CFL’s Touchdown Pacific game on Aug. 31. The Harbourcats will play their first home playoff game at the Serauxmen Stadium in Nanaimo.
Haney, however, doesn’t think this will negatively affect the Harbourcats’ chances of winning the championships – despite acknowledging that home crowds can provide a significant advantage.
“We love playing here, we love playing in front of our home crowd,” he said. “But we’ve overcome adversity all summer and all season, and we’re just going to add this to the list and we’re going to go play as best we can knowing that we’re underdogs.”
They have two regular season games to play against the Carvallis Knights on Tuesday, Aug. 6 and Wednesday, Aug. 7 before the playoffs begin on Saturday, Aug. 10.
Click here to see the Harbourcats' playoff schedule: harbourcats.com/calendar/
