Despite a scoreless first half, Powell River Villa lost to Westcastle Lakers 2-0 on Saturday, November 12, in the second of their three-game road series.
“We came out slow, but were still able to defend effectively to get into halftime with a 0-0 score,” said Tony Leach, Villa’s coach. “Then we had a bit of bad luck – the referee awarded a penalty shot to Westcastle after a shot hit one of our defenders in the arm.”
Westcastle was able to score on the penalty shot at 66 minutes in the second half, despite a great effort by keeper Scott McKenzie.
“Scott almost saved it,” said Chris McDonough, Villa’s manager. “He went the right way, but it just snuck past him into the corner.”
Villa regrouped and put more pressure on the home team, including a good play between Joel Harry, Caiman Duggan and Niko Cristante that culminated in Cristante’s shot just missing the post. Westcastle was able to score again at 82 minutes to finish off the game.
“Kalem [Lindstrom] had another good game for us, and Caiman, who was back in the lineup this week, did well when he came on in the second half,” said Leach. “The second half was definitely better than the first in terms of game play and commitment from the team. We just need to score more goals; we’ve only scored one in the last four games, and we can’t win games that way.”
Villa will have a few more players on the roster this weekend when they travel to face Comox Valley United on Saturday, November 19.
“We have a few players returning from illness and injury, and a couple of new players we’re adding to the roster this week,” said McDonough. “We’ve just signed Ori Fisher from Vancouver Island University, and Jacob Duyvestyn has finished his season with Olds College and is available to play for us again. We’re looking forward to seeing them on the field this weekend.”
Comox is in last-place in Vancouver Island Soccer League (VISL) Division 1 standings, trailing Villa by four points.
“We always have pretty close games with Comox,” said Leach. “They’re pretty hungry for a win, but so are we. It should be a good match.”
Villa returns home on Saturday, November 26, to host first-place Lakehill FC at Timberlane Park. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 pm, and tickets will be available at the gate.
