Powell River Villa opened the Vancouver Island Soccer League (VISL) Division 1 season at home with a match versus Sooke Celtic on September 7.
Although fans didn’t see a goal in the 0-0 tie, the combination of strong goaltending performances by Emil Valing (Villa) and Fernando Paniagua (Celtic), along with warm weather, provided fans plenty to cheer about on a sunny afternoon at Timberlane Park.
Villa coach Tony Leach was happy with the defensive performance, despite a slow start for his team overall.
“The first 15 to 20 minutes, we were under the gun a little bit,” said Leach. “They played a few more games than we did in preseason, so they were a little bit more polished. But after that, for the rest of the first half, we were the better team.”
Leach highlighted the performances of defenders James Timothy, Jacob Duyvestyn and Jake Kenmuir.
“Defensively, our whole backline played quite well; they all did a great job,” said Leach. “We had a 16-year-old kid in goal. Emil was nervous as hell, but his shot saving was good, and his talk was great, and that helped a bit in the back.”
The second half was fairly even, according to the coach, who said Villa needed to be better offensively and convert on scoring chances,
“Dane Slack had a breakaway, and their goalie made a save. He had several chances all game where he just sped the defender he was lining up against. He had a field day with their older guy who was a bit slower.
“Fitness in the second half came into play a bit, but we created a few more chances. The only bad thing is we weren't able to bury them, which we always look back on at the end of the season. You miss a few opportunities like that and instead of three points for us, it's one point.”
In similar situations last season where games were tied late in the second half, Leach said Villa would sometimes give up a soft goal.
“This game, defensively, we were sound at the end of the game,” he added. “It was better in that respect, and I was happy with that. But just taking that touch and finishing it easily, instead of just trying to rush it, we'll be working on that this week.”
Villa will face a tougher opponent this weekend with perennial top three VISL Division 1 team Lakehill FC (Victoria) providing the opposition at Timberlane Park.
“They beat Nanaimo 3-1 in their first game,” said Leach. “I talked to one of the guys from Nanaimo and he said they're super fast up front. They have quite a few ex UVIC players on that team.”
With first game jitters out of the way, Leach expects his team to be better on match day two.
“We had a lot of new players in the lineup,” he said. “We've definitely got quite a few younger players who seem to be doing fairly well for the most part.
Villa played Lakehill to a tie in Victoria last year, which Leach said was probably the first points Villa took from that opponent on the road in the last 10 years.
“That was a nice way to end the season against those guys,” said Leach. “We also had them down 3-1 last year in the home game, and then we ended up giving away that lead. Hopefully the difference this year will be fitness levels, which are going to be better.”
Villa hosts Lakehill on Saturday, September 14, at Timberlane Park. Kickoff is 1:30 pm.
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