The Kwalikum Kondors added another victory Tuesday in Nanaimo, needing penalty kicks to earn a 5-4 win over Woodlands.
Coming off a 4-0 win last week over Dover Bay, the Kondors worked extra hard to remain undefeated in league play.
With goals coming from Blair Stewart (two goals), Daniel Doukakis and Tyler Lucente, the Kondors found themselves square with the Woodlands Eagles. Every Kondor who stepped up for a shot would score, with goalkeeper Nolin Fong making a save on the Eagles second shooter, giving them the 5-4 win.
“It was a tough game,” senior Tony Trozzo said. “We knew it was going to be another tough match and Woodlands was everything we figured they’d be. Fortunately for us, we battled hard and stayed with them the entire game and had the chance to come away with the win on PKs, which we did.”
“Finishing league play without a loss feels great but we’ve got another tough test coming up against Gulf Island next week.”
KSS will play Gulf Island Secondary for first seed in the North Island playoffs. Having already secured a top two berth, the Kondors will look to earn that number one spot, putting a stamp on their season.
“We want that first seed,” Trozzo said. “We’ve been working hard every game to get to this point and it’s just the first step for us. We know it’s going to be tough but we want to make provincials, that’s the goal here. We’ve been building towards it every week and now we’re about to take another big step heading into the North Island’s here.”
“We want that number one spot for North Islands and we’re going to have our work cut out for us again but I think that we’ll be able to pull it off.”
The Kondors host the North Island playoffs the first week of November, but it will be in Nanaimo at Merle Logan Field. This gives all teams an equal playing field, with the turf fields at Merle Logan good in all weather.
“We’re really excited to be hosting,” head coach Butch Gayton said. “Anytime you get to put on an event, regardless of it being in your back yard or close by, it means a lot. These boys have worked hard in their training and I’m very pleased to see where we’re at. But the work isn’t finished for us. This is a determined group of players that want to go all the way to provincials.”
“It’s always a tough road to get there, regardless of the sport, but there’s just so much talent with the game of soccer here on the Island that it’s tough to get there from here. We’ll just have to take it one step at a time and keep ramping it up every week.
