by Glen Gibbs Peak Sports It could have been the manner in which Powell River Villa won its second game of the year, or the bitterly cold conditions at Brooks Turf field that sent a chill up your spine. Either way, the outcome was enough to warm the hearts of brave Villa fans and earn their team a victory against a good side that had lost just once so far this year.
Cowichan United 2 came into the game with just three goals scored against it in seven games but that total was about to be doubled and in a hurry too.
Villa’s offence was in high gear in the first half and after the opening get-to-know-you 15 minutes of play between the 18 yard lines, it got the first goal with immense pressure.
The play started with Jamie Zroback, deep in the corner, sending the ball back to Jeff Lawson, and he promptly drilled it across to Kyle Vasseur who, with a diving header, forced the keeper to make a great save.
Unfortunately for the keeper, he couldn’t control the rebound and that’s when David Bertrand pounced on it and put Villa’s first goal into the short side of the net at 17 minutes.
Villa did exactly what it had to do against the division’s number-three seed and that was to keep pouring the pressure on to increase the 1-0 lead.
On one occasion Bertrand was virtually handed the ball by Cowichan’s last defender and he swiftly went around him to break in alone on the keeper who stood his ground and made the save.
Villa’s relentless attack eventually started to win some calls and on one of them, at the 31-minute mark, Kye Taylor stepped up from about 40 yards and put it right onto the head of Mike Hurren.
Cowichan’s keeper had come out to grab the ball out of the air but Hurren’s vertical leap was of Kobe Bryant proportions, and he flicked Villa’s second goal perfectly for a 2-0 lead.
Villa hasn’t had the luxury of playing with a two-goal cushion this year and that showed a bit in the way it played the next 60 minutes.
A little complacency and a desperate effort from its stunned opponent promised to make for a very exciting game.
Possibly thinking that the 2-0 lead would hold up into the half, Villa got caught on a long throw-in from the sideline deep in its end and with less than five minutes to go the score had tightened up to 2-1.
Cowichan was obviously energized by the late goal and evened the score early in the second half on a corner kick before giving up the lead for good.
The deciding goal was a penalty kick taken by Zroback at 70 minutes but it wasn’t your typical shot.
Zroback hit it where he wanted to but the keeper guessed right and was there to make the save on the low drive.
He couldn’t handle it cleanly however, and as he lay on the ground Zroback stormed in to pound in the rebound to make the score 3-2.
“You’ve always got to hit it hard enough,” Zroback said, “so the goalie can’t keep a handle on it. I hit it poorly, though, but thank God he gave up a rebound.”
After the penalty Cowichan was predictably upset with the referee and he had to warn the team several times to “be quiet or you will leave the game.”
The players heeded his warning and turned up the heat but keeper Douglas Rivera was rock solid and made a couple of big saves to preserve a big win for Villa.
A week earlier, Villa’s coaching staff was concerned about commitment but after meeting during practice, and given the positive result on Saturday, Zroback said, “all of our guys are on board and ready to meet the challenges that lie ahead.”
Villa gets a chance to win back to back at home when it hosts Gordon Head Blazers at 5:15 pm on Saturday, November 12 at Brooks Turf field.
