Last Sunday, the Campbell River Waves U15 boys’ soccer team traveled to Port Alberni to take on the Alberni Timber.
The game started with the Waves dominating the play against the speedy Port Alberni Timber. When in possession the Waves were passing very well, and the odd time they had trouble in their own end, a pass back to keeper Hans Haagerup would ensure that the ball got cleared back to center. Although midfielders Jeffrey Lindenbach and Dylan Kruyt had multiple chances on net, the Waves just couldn’t put one in. As the minutes were winding down in the first half it seemed as if it would finish scoreless. It was then, in the final seconds of the half, that striker Oscar Novak took a corner kick and sent the ball right to midfielder Torin Halvorson who headed it past the Alberni keeper and into the net, putting the Waves up one.
The second half started with the boys once again retaining possession of the ball and using the space to the wings effectively, sending many runs down the side, only to be shut down by the Alberni defense.
Later in one such attempt, wing midfielder, Jonah Shankar put a beautiful cross into the middle where teammate Josh Billy took a shot on net. As the ball flew towards the goal, an Alberni defender intercepted it, causing it to rebound right to forward Darian Nohr who coolly one-timed it into the net.
Soon after, a third goal for the Waves was put in by Jonah Shankar, from a strong cross by Connor Nast.
Now the Waves were really on fire, and another cross from Shankar followed by a great header by Novak into the back of the net gave them their fourth goal. Novak later netted his third goal from a powerful shot taken outside the 18 yard box, giving the Waves a 5-0 lead.
As the game wound down, the Timber fought hard and attempted a break on the Waves’ net, only to be stopped by defenders Ross Rickman, River MacDonnell, Andrew Daniels and Chayton Skye. Finally the Alberni forwards broke through and took a shot which was tipped by Wave’s defender as he tried to block it. It spiraled up just over Waves’ keeper Hans Haagerups hands and into the net behind him, with 5 minutes left on the clock. The game ended a 5-1 victory for the Waves.
