Somewhere in the fog, Powell River Villa soccer club scored seven goals against Prospect Lake in a Vancouver Island Soccer League makeup game on January 14.
“The more goals, the better,” said Villa head coach Chris McDonough as his team moved within striking distance of the top two teams in its division, Victoria’s Bays United and Gorge.
At this point, McDonough’s team has to make up goal differential that could decide the final standings. Currently, Gorge and Villa have a 40-point difference between goals for and against.
Against Prospect Lake, the fog became thicker as the game went on.
“I could hardly see across the field from one side to the other,” said Villa player/coach Dean Thorsell. “I didn't know fans were still there.”
For people watching from the sidelines, the game was shrouded in mystery.
“When I came off and was watching as coach trying to make some substitutions you could hardly see the goals go in,” said Thorsell.
It was an easy time putting the ball in the net. Right at the beginning of the game Villa scored four goals in under 20 minutes, two by James Timothy, followed by a pair from Nick Van't Schip.
Chris Marshman scored two more near the end of the game and Kurtis Dennison rounded out the scoring with a goal off a header.
Goaltender Matt Liknes earned a clean sheet for Villa, his fourth shutout of the season.
The fog actually played into Villa’s style of short 15-to-20-yard passes.
“That's usually our game,” said Thorsell. “That's what we like to play.
McDonough said the team he fielded was probably the best of the year due in large part to youth.
The attacking three forwards of Cullen Buholzer, James Timothy and Chris Fisher are all Vancouver Island Premier League players.
“We have a really great crop of youth players to pull from,” said McDonough.
Unfortunately, they might not be available to Villa for the three remaining games of the regular season.
“It all depends on if they get released from their teams, so we're hoping we get them next week,” said McDonough. “It’s probably unlikely we'll get them the week after, but we take it week by week because there are a lot of factors involved.”
Villa’s next game is against Bays United in Victoria on Saturday, January 20, followed by a home game against Gorge at Timberlane Park on Sunday, January 28.
Villa has to beat both teams to move into first place. After picking up three points from the win against Prospect Lake, Villa is two points behind.
McDonough said the games are the two most important of the season.
“We're in position and it's in our hands to win the league,” said McDonough.
If Villa can win its final three games the club will be promoted to Division 2 for the 2018/2019 VISL season.
