Bumpy Midseason Travels

By Davie Wong

            Week three of PACWEST soccer saw the Royals take on a variety of opponents to continue the second leg of their four game road trip. This week, the Royals took on their island rivals, the VIU Mariners on Saturday, and the Quest Kermodes on Sunday.

            Their visit to the Mariners was packed with action as both Royals teams looked to take a game off of them. The women's soccer team got the action started off for the weekend. To say the game was fast paced would be an understatement. The Mariners blitzed the Royals right out of the gate, tagging them for three goals in the opening half. The women managed to pull one in right before the half closed, with a memorable goal from defender Mary Allworth, and took a 3-1 score into half time.

            The team tightened up defensively in the second half but couldn't crack the VIU backline. Both teams fizzled each other out and the game drew to a rather anti-climactic end as the Mariners simply closed out the Royals to take the game, 3-1.

            The men's team had a little bit more luck cracking the vigilant VIU defensive line. 22 minutes into the first half, an ugly tackle gave the Royals a chance to convert on a free kick opportunity. Expert free-kick taker, Mark Baldisimo stepped up to take the kick, and true to form, tucked it right into the net, snatching the lead for the Royals.

            The drama didn't end there. Only a few moments later, the Royals received their own welcome by the referee in the form of a straight red card.  Down to ten men, the Royals fought hard to stay on top. Stellar individual play from the Royals ensured the team continued to dominate their island rivals. Race Williams had a beautiful play in the game to double his team's lead. After a failed VIU attack, the Royals launched Williams into their own counter attack. Williams' dribbled his way past three defenders and made the Mariners' goalkeeper look silly with a fantastic finish that had his entire bench on their feet.

            That play gave the team more than enough momentum to slide their way to the finish line. However, the win was not flawless. Mere moments before the final whistle, the Mariners tucked away a goal to break the clean sheet but could do little more before the end of the game was called.

            That game alone gave a lot for both teams to analyze but neither team had the time as they travelled to visit the Quest Kermodes the very next day.  The Kermodes, who were coming off an eight day break, came out of the gates swinging. The women looked on much better form on Sunday, and the Kermodes could not break through their defence in the first half.

            However, the Royals also could not find any luck hitting the net. It wouldn't be until the 82nd minute that either team cracked the scoreboard. The Kermodes found a way to crack the Royals defence with a fantastic strike from just outside the penalty box. Royals' goalkeeper, Alexa Gazzola, found a way to get a hand on the ball but couldn't keep it out as the rocket ran itself into the net.

            With time running out, and another loss on the line, the women would need someone on the team to step up if they were going to tie the game. Luckily for them, Andrea Perrotta is an expert at that, and she tucked away the game tying goal in the dying seconds on injury time. The goal came just before the final whistle, and the team managed to salvage the 1-1 draw.

            They finished the week 0-1-1, and walked away with one point to end the weekend.

            The men's team was quite the opposite. They came out of the gates as one might expect when you travel from Vancouver, to the Vancouver Islands, to Squamish, in the span of two day.  By half time, the Kermodes were up three goals. The Royals managed to snag a goal back in the second half when Quinn Dawson put in a header off of a set piece. Unfortunately, that was the bright spot in a rather disappointing loss for the men, as they fell to the Kermodes, 3-1.

            The loss would finish their week with a record of 1-1, with the team walking away with three hard earned points.