A resurgent Gorge FC are in good standing in 2016 and are coming off a big 4-1 win over Lakehill to hold down third place in the Vancouver Island Soccer League’s Div. 1 standings.
The all-Saanich derby was last week’s VISL Game of the Week.
With a record of 7-3-1, Gorge are rebuilt, and have officially rebounded as the new generation, rising from the ashes of the dynasty that dominated the league prior to Cowichan FC.
Scoring for Gorge at Braefoot Park on Friday night were John Shah with two, one from Brady Neill and an own goal.
Jon Shah scored just 10 minutes in and then again at the 25-minute mark with a low hard shot which deflected off the defender into the top right corner.
“Gorge was well-organized from the kickoff and started pressing Lakehill with high pressure,” said league president Vince Greco.
Isayah Dheensaw, a call-up from the Lakehill Div. 2 team, scored a brilliant goal 15 minutes into the second half. Lakehill’s Kean Devries headed the ball over the Gorge defenders and Dheensaw hit a 25-yard volley, a blistering shot into the top corner.
The win was part of an interesting weekend in the top flight of senior men’s soccer as everything seemed to go according to odds-makers’ plans, Greco said.
At the top of the ledger, Cowichan FC (8-2-0) scored eight goals on Campbell River (3-8-0), while at the bottom of the standings, the struggling Saanich Fusion (1-8-2) dropped a key loss to Nanaimo, 1-0, as the latter moved up to fourth in the standings (6-2-3).
At the VISL men’s masters level, the top two teams of UVic Alumni (second) and Cowichan (first) squared off at UVic on Friday. UVic snapped the Cowichan 49ers unbeaten streak with the 1-0 victory.
Sean Battistoni scored the only goal at the 23rd minute mark. Battistoni, a former provincial champ with Gorge, headed in a corner kick that was just out of Cowichan player Rob McIntyre’s reach. Cowichan’s Nick Zuback looked to tie the game as he had a nice header labelled for the corner of the UVic net but keeper Mike Hoffman made a great save.
These two sides are likely to represent the VISL in B.C Soccer Provincial Cup play later this season.
