by Glen Gibbs Peak Sports Powell River Villa put together a strong effort on the road Sunday, September 25, and picked up their first point of the year in a 1-1 tie against Gorge FC2.
They went to Victoria without the services of Kye Taylor, who was serving the second of a two-game suspension, but added one new recruit to the lineup.
After a week of training with the club, a youngster from Greece by the name of Konstantinos Paraskevopoulos was given an opportunity to show the coaches what he could do.
The 18-year-old, who goes by the name of Gus on the pitch, is staying with his grandmother and joined the club after an endorsement from former Powell River resident Jimmy Malamas. Malamas told coach Jamie Zroback, “my cousin moved to Powell River to play hockey, but he’s not getting that much ice time, so do you mind if he comes out and runs with you?”
Apparently, Gus played in a high division in Greece but during the week at practice, in a midfield position, he didn’t exactly set the pitch on fire.
However, when he was moved up front, Zroback knew immediately, “this kid can score goals.”
“Basically, he’s crafty like Jordy [Peters] but he’s a goal scorer with the ability to rope it into the net.”
Villa started the game against winless Gorge FC2 with a lot of energy and significant edge in play.
Both teams had a couple of chances to open the scoring but only Gorge was able to capitalize in the opening 45 minutes.
With four minutes to go before the break, a foul on the back line resulted in a free kick and a goal from just outside the 18-yard line.
Keeper Doug Rivera’s wall was a little too centred and a straight kick found the net at 40 minutes moving Gorge up 1-0.
“He’s a great goalie,” Zroback said of the error, “but we need to work on the fundamentals. We’re going to have to work on that this week. Cory [McCracken] is going to come out and help Doug and Matt [Liknes] through setting the wall and all that sort of stuff.”
Down 1-0 at the half, confidence remained high due to the chances and percentage of play that Villa enjoyed and the boys were encouraged to keep doing what they were doing.
Chances continued for the players and they were finally rewarded when Gus rushed down the right wing, beat three defenders and streaked by a fourth before he fired a laser into the Gorge goal.
“Kye and I just looked at each other,” said Zroback, “and said ‘wow.’”
The goal came 10 minutes into the second half but from that point on, despite several good chances, Villa couldn’t capitalize again.
The best opportunity came when Gus flew down the left side this time and from deep in the corner crossed the ball to Peters, who only had to side-foot it into the empty net. Unfortunately, the ball hopped over his foot and Peters threw up his arms in disgust.
Just as Villa was pouring the pressure on for the win, Mother Nature took her turn and poured water on the turf.
The punishing rain storm scattered paper, equipment and fans for the last 15 minutes of the match but neither team was able to break the 1-1 tie.
“The difference maker would have been Kye Taylor,” said Zroback matter of factly, “and I’m sure it would probably have been a 4-0 game with him in.”
Taylor’s leadership, however, will return to the Villa lineup at 5:15 pm this Saturday, October 1, when Villa hosts Castaways FC2 from Victoria at Brooks Turf.
