Powell River United O35 Soccer club began its provincial cup run at home on Sunday under sunny blue skies in the first round of play versus North Delta SC Rangers.
The game started with the Rangers having a definite advantage with possession during the first 10 minutes. United gained composure and play evened out as both squads defended well with hard tackles and tight defensive play.
It remained even for most of the half until player/coach Tony Leach received the ball out on the right midfield and noticed the Rangers keeper far out of his net. Leach buried his head and hammered a ball from 40 yards to beat the floundering goalie and give United a 1-0 lead. This seemed to give United a bit of a boost as it took play to the visitors for the remainder of the half but was unable to get another one past the keeper.
The second half started again with the Rangers having an advantage in the play and creating some chances that were either sent wide of the net or stopped by goalie Rick Bombardir. United had a couple players go down with injuries and the substitutes that came on worked hard and helped to keep the one-goal lead.
With approximately five minutes left United had a moment of defensive lapse and a Rangers player found himself wide open about 25 yards out. He struck a shot that dipped into the top corner of the net giving Bombardir no chance of getting to it. The score was now 1-1 and remained that way for the rest of regulation.
United came out strong in overtime and within the first five minutes Darren Mousseau fought his way between two Rangers defenders, chipped the goalie and buried the ball into the back of the net. United kept pressing and as a result Rino Parise was taken down hard in the 18-yard box resulting in a penalty shot for United. Aaron Cramb stepped up and buried the penalty giving United a 3-1 lead.
The second overtime had the visitors pressing hard with some good chances on net again stopped by Bombardir. However, with only two minutes left in the game a bouncing ball turned into a scramble in the box with a Rangers player getting a foot on the ball putting it into the back of the net. United kept its cool and played out the remainder of the game winning 3-2.
United now moves onto the quarterfinals this weekend and will play the Poco Castilians of Fraser Valley Soccer League at 1 pm on Saturday, April 21 at Gates Turf in Port Coquitlam.
