Despite dominating their Vancouver Island Soccer League Div. 1 home opener against Comox Valley United last Saturday afternoon, Cowichan LMG had to settle for a scoreless draw.
“We should have scored a bunch of goals early and we didn’t, and it came back to hurt us,” Cowichan coach Glen Martin said. “We were all over them: pressure, pressure, pressure. And we didn’t score. How we didn’t score one goal in that whole game is unbelievable. Their goalie had a good game, but we weren’t finishing and our decision-making was a bit off. We gave a couple of points away.”
Martin estimated that, over the course of the game, his team had about 15 “decent chances” to score, but just couldn’t convert.
“It was just one of those days; we just had trouble scoring,” he said. “It was a very frustrating game. We didn’t have the killer instinct.”
In their own end, LMG did come away with a clean sheet after their defence played well in front of goalkeeper Sam Hutchison, who has yet to allow a goal through his first two VISL matches. Comox had their best chance to score in the second half after captain Jesse Winter was fouled from behind without a call from the officials, but Hutchison made a key stop on that play.
Martin was frustrated with leaving a clear-cut victory on the field.
“That team was ready to be beat, and we let them off the hook,” he said. “We didn’t really play very good soccer. We didn’t build the play up very well.”
Despite last Saturday’s result, there is still reason to be optimistic early in the VISL season.
“We haven’t been scored on yet,” Martin noted. “And we’re still tied for first place.”
Next up for LMG is a road game against the Vancouver Island Wave, who were promoted from Div. 2 where they played last year as the Victoria Highlanders. It will be a challenge for Cowichan, facing a young team playing on a big field. Still fielding a small roster, Cowichan could have both Dan Cato and Kevan Brown back in the mix this weekend.
In Div. 2, Cowichan United lost their home opener last Saturday 2-1 to Prospect Lake Black, getting their lone goal from Bram Taylor. United will be at home this Saturday at 6 p.m. against Nanaimo.
