Maybe it was the torrential downpour in the second half. Or perhaps it was the Sunday night dance.
For whatever reason, defence went out the window Monday afternoon as the Calgary Lads outlasted the Calgary Chinook Blackstars 6-4 in the men’s 35+ final at MacDonald Park.
Unofficially, it is the highest scoring final in the history of the 33rd annual National Invitational Oldtimers Soccer Tournament.
It was also one of the most entertaining championship games ever as the Blackstars fell behind 4-0 at the half before making things interesting.
Former South African pro Morgan Nkathazr – named MVP of the seven-team division – and Jeremy Chivers each scored twice for Lads. Singles came from Geoff Perlin and Peter Stewart.
“Seeing that many goals was kind of odd,” chuckled Perlin. “Some of it (reason) was the wet field which made for lots of chances and we actually finished some of our chances.
“Morgan was our MVP this weekend with eight goals for the Golden Boot award. He played pro in South Africa and Greece (some Champions League games with Panathinaikos). Big leads are hard to maintain and they came out hard in the second half.”
The Lads, who finished second in the Calgary indoor season and fourth at provincials in Edmonton, pocketed $600.
Patrick Houle, with the hat trick, and Will Bogaart replied for the Blackstars, who earned $500.
“We had nothing to lose,” said player/coach Corey Fehrmann, of the Blackstars’ second-half rally. “We’ve never been in a high-scoring final like that. It turned into a hockey score out there. Their speed through the middle in the first 15 minutes beat us.”
The Lads topped the table in preliminary play with 19 points after shutting out Covercrete FC of Vancouver 2-0, blanking Mission 2-0 and losing 2-1 to Surrey United.
Surrey and the Calgary Gunners chose not play the Monday morning consolation final and instead share third place cash.
In the eight-team men’s 45+ category, Peace Arch of White Rock stopped the Southside Rangers of Calgary 3-1 in Monday’s final.
Tournament MVP Daniel Silva, Joe Battie and Mauricio Zinetti handled the Peace Arch offence.
“That’s our fourth in a row,” smiled Peace Arch captain Zane Bouvette. “We’ve been in the finals 10 years and won seven. We started playing here in our 40s. It’s a total team effort. We win the tournament and we win the beer drinking contest.”
Bouvette marvelled at the incredible skill of Silva, a work of art.
“He’s tireless and he’s dynamic. He goes all the way up the field on offence, and if you’re playing sweeper, you watch him come all the way back behind you. He’s just amazing.”
Peace Arch opened by getting a minor scare against Vernon’s Big O Tire/Turn-Key Ogopogos, falling behind 2-1 before dominating the second half in a 4-2 victory.
Parm Kler and Mark Wasylyk scored on rocket shots for the Ogopogos.
Peace Arch grounded Edmonton Karpaty 3-0 and ambushed Kelowna IGA 3-0 in other preliminary matches.
The Ogopogos clipped Vancouver FC Piast 1-0 on a Mike Daly penalty kick before falling 1-0 to Calgary Lads with fabulous goalkeeping by Yogi Kongsdorf.
Central fullback Steve Coombs and midfielder Ian Murphy were standouts all weekend for Big O Tire.
Vancouver Old Growth iced the Lads 3-1 in the B final.
Kelowna Pac West won the four-team men’s 40+ class with a 2-1 final win over Calgary United. Zeco Peschada of Kelowna took MVP.
Mission FC topped the nine-team 50+ division with a 2-1 final win over the BC Nomads. Tony Belucci of Mission was selected MVP.
The North Island Spartans ruled the four-team 55+ class with three wins and an MVP showing from Shane McLean. The Vernon Masters were third at 1-1-1.
Longtime tourney supporters South Hill FC of Vancouver went 0-3 but spent the most in the beer garden and donated their $200 prize money back to the event. South Hill gained a controversial 3-3 draw in a friendly with tourney organizers NOU United women.
Vernon’s Jeff Parker, who serves as South Hill’s tour guide, played net, and allowed two penalty-kick goals. He claimed both PKs were fixed by the referee.
