Kevin Rothbauer Citizen
Tanner Dobson’s goal with two minutes left in regulation time last Saturday gave Cowichan United the biggest upset of the first round as both United and Cowichan LMG advanced in the Jackson Cup tournament.
Dobson lofted the ball over the Vic West goalkeeper from about 20 yards out to lift his team to a 3-2 victory at the UVic turf. The second-place team in Div. 2 of the Vancouver Island Soccer League, United was the underdog going up against Vic West, who are tied with Cowichan LMG for first in Div. 1. Vic West may have taken Cowichan United lightly, and it cost them.
“It was crazy,” United coach Ryan Flynn said. “It was a roller-coaster game. It was one of those games where it was up and down, up and down. It was nuts.”
Vic West, who had played a league game just three days earlier, showed up at the pitch with only 13 players, while Cowichan brought 18.
“It benefited us having that just-in-case depth,” Flynn said.
The small field they played on was also to United’s advantage, but based on what he saw and all the feedback he has received since, Flynn’s team flat-out outplayed Vic West.
“From what I’ve heard, we were definitely the better team out there,” he said. “I think we just played with more heart than they did.”
United surprised Vic West early, with Dan Citra converting a penalty shot drawn by Dobson in the first few minutes. Russell Lederer, who led United in scoring in 2015-16 but had been snake-bitten so far this season, scored his first of the year to give Cowichan a 2-0 edge. Vic West got on the board in the 37th minute of play, and it was 2-1 at halftime.
“There was little room for error, but the guys were confident with where they were,” Flynn said.
An unfortunate foul led to the tying goal by Vic West, and the teams battled hard down the stretch. They appeared headed for overtime before Dobson struck with the late winner.
Understandably, Dobson’s clutch goal earned him player of the game honours, although Flynn called Colin Knight “probably our best player.”
“He shut down the centre of the midfield,” the coach said of Knight. “He was getting under people’s skin. He was a very calm presence out there for some of our players when they needed that. He’s a leader out there, and he showed what he can produce and what he can do for the team.”
Goalkeeper Darian Achurch was also outstanding against Vic West, making his best save of the game on a deflection off one of his own teammates.
United will try to keep the momentum going this weekend as they play a doubleheader, with league games at Prospect Lake on Friday and Sooke on Saturday. Their next Jackson Cup game will take place on the weekend of March 4, against the VI Wave, who currently sit sixth in Div. 1.
Two-time defending Jackson Cup champions Cowichan LMG also advanced in this year’s tournament by beating Comox Valley United 2-1 at the Sherman Road turf.
LMG’s victory was far from being an upset — Comox is tied for last in Div. 1 — but they needed some clutch play to make it happen as Comox held a 1-0 lead with 15 minutes left to play.
LMG head coach Glen Martin has always been wary of the defence-first Comox team.
“They didn’t surprise me in any way with how they played,” he said. “They work hard, they’re well-coached, they have a game plan, and they stick to it.”
Comox scored first on a soft goal off a corner kick about 15 minutes in, but Martin wasn’t unhappy with how his team played in the early going.
“We had a good start,” he said. “I wasn’t disappointed with how we started.”
Trailing 1-0, Martin made one change at the half, giving starter Dan Cato a rest and subbing in Andres Algarin. Cato had put on a lot of miles in the first half, and came within a crossbar of tying the score. Martin made another change later on in the half, taking Brad Archibald and Anton Bucher off the back line and sending Cato back in with Luca Klotz.
With the new configuration, LMG went at Comox hard after that, and were rewarded when Cooper Barry headed in the ball off a corner kick at 75 minutes. Craig Gorman scored on another header seven minutes later to put his team ahead for good.
LMG will resume the Jackson Cup tournament on March 3 at home against Prospect Lake’s Div. 2 side at 7:15 p.m. Prospect Lake currently sits sixth in Div. 2.
In the meantime, Martin’s team will host the VI Wave in a league game this Saturday at 4 p.m.
