A defensive miscue led to Powell River Villa SC suffering its first defeat of the 2018/2019 season on Saturday, October 13, in a 1-0 road loss to Victoria Highlanders FC.
It is the only goal Villa’s stingy defence has allowed five games into the 18-game season and ended goalkeeper Matt Liknes’ string of clean sheets.
Villa remains in first place in Vancouver Island Soccer League Division 2 with 12 points on four wins, no ties and one loss. The most remarkable statistic is Villa’s goal differential, scoring four times and allowing one against.
Defence was Villa’s strength again in the club’s most recent game, but also its demise.
“The difference maker was our defensive play and not just the back line of Nick [Van’t Schip], Jarek [Long], Brandon [Rairie] and Dean [Thorsell], but also Jake Kenmuir and Kurtis Dennison were fantastic,” said Villa coach Chris McDonough. “We really didn't give them much. In the second half there was a little miscue and one of their guys got through the centre of our defence and beat Matt.”
Highlanders are an academy team of high-school-aged players, well coached and fast, said McDonough. Their speed might have been a factor, he added.
“We did a really good job of defending for a lot of the game and kind of relied on counterattacks to create our chances, which we had quite a few of, actually,” said McDonough. “It was a really entertaining game.”
Villa’s lineup is full of quick, attacking players and when they did get the ball on counterattack, the front end created some chances and probably could have had two goals in the first half, according to McDonough.
“Scott Sawchuk was in on a breakaway and their goalie made a great save,” said the coach. “He was going for the low post and managed to save that one and we had another couple of chances as well.”
Villa pushed forward near the end of the game, creating a few opportunities but could not cash in.
“Tough loss to lose 1-0 and probably one of our best games of the year,” added McDonough.
A more significant loss to the team for the rest of the season was an injury to veteran midfielder Daniel Paul.
“It looked to be a knee injury early in the second half; that set us back,” said McDonough. “He's been a really good player for us this year. He's definitely out for a while.”
Villa has a chance to get back to their winning ways when they take on the second last place team in the division, Vic West, in the first of two back-to-back home games at Timberlane Park on Saturday, October 20, and Saturday, October 27. Kick off for both games is 1:30 pm.
