A funny thing happened on the way to a tense, defensive duel at the Qualicum Beach Rec Fields Thursday afternoon.
The duel participants ceded the pitch.
Nanaimo District Secondary School erupted for four straight goals to snap a 1-1 halftime tie, then held on through a late Kwalikum Secondary School rally to take a 5-3 boys senior AA soccer win over the Kondors.
“There was no concept of team defence — for both teams,” KSS coach Butch Gayton said after the Kondors (4-2, 2-1 in Mid-Island North league play) suffered their first league defeat. “We were definitely exposed for not being in the right place.”
Kwalikum has just two league games remaining before the Oct. 26 playoffs that determine the league’s representatives to the North Island Championships, and Thursday’s defeat may come back to haunt the club during playoff seeding.
“This loss hurts,” Gayton said. “It puts us in kind of a tough spot.”
The Kondors travel today to Nanaimo to play Dover Bay, then return home to close out the regular season Thursday against Nanaimo Christian School.
Godi Seki of Kwalikum Secondary (4) leaps in front of Nanaimo’s Alex Dedame to gather a pass during the teams’ senior boys AA soccer match Thursday at the Qualicum Beach Rec Fields. — Image credit: J.R. Rardon/PQB NEWS
There was little in the first half of play last Thursday to suggest what was to come. The teams played a 1-1 draw, and the Kondors had a golden opportunity to take a lead into the break after Edoardo Lovera earned a 20-yard free kick in the closing minutes of the half.
His shot around the Nanaimo wall hammered the left goalpost and caromed back into the middle of the field. Kwalikum’s Leo Brachat was first to the rebound, but his follow-up shot sailed harmlessly over the crossbar.
The second half resumed the back-and-forth play until the 60th minute, when Nanaimo’s Alex Dedame completed a dribble through the KSS defense with a 35-yard strike. The ball flew just inside the post past Teddy Vukovic, one of two rookie goalkeepers playing for the Kondors this season.
That score kicked the game into high gear. In the 70th minute, the Islanders’ Morgan McPhee delivered a perfect crossing pass from deep in the corner to teammate Asuka Nishikawa, who collected the ball in stride — and unmarked — before blasting a point-blank shot past Vukovic that made it 3-1.
“They had some dangerous players we just lost track of,” said Gayton. “I’m not sure how you lose track of the best player on the pitch.”
Just three minutes later, Dedame muscled in a shot that Vukovic got his gloves on but couldn’t hold; and two minutes after that, Nishikawa made it 5-1 with a point-blank strike inside the left post.
KSS was not finished. Brachat embarked on his own weaving run through the NDSS defence, then beat Islanders’ goalie Igor Guirardeli in a close race before booting it home in the 76th minute.
In the final minute of play, Brachat delivered a through pass that Luke Walker buried from 18 yards for the final score.
Thursday’s home finale against NCS kicks off at 3:30 p.m. at the rec field.
