Expect a defensive struggle.
That‘s not to say it‘ll be a sleeper, but today‘s Pacific Coast Soccer League semifinal between the top-seeded Okanagan Challenge and fourth-seeded Fraser Valley Action features two defence-first teams colliding at the Apple Bowl. Game time is 4 p.m.
The Challenge (11-3-2) boasted the premier division‘s best goals-against-average in the regular season, surrendering only 15 goals in 16 games. The Action (7-4-5) gave up 30 goals in as many games, but play a suffocating style, especially with the lead.
“The good thing about playing a team three times is that you know exactly what to expect from them,” Challenge coach Clint Schneider said. “They like to sit in, and the guys are going to be prepared for that.”
The Challenge have a lot of things going for them. Aside from their stingy defence and strong goalkeeping, the club is undefeated at home (7-0-1). That said, they have their work cut out for them against Fraser Valley. Their lone draw came against the Action, a 2-2 tie on May 31, and Fraser Valley is the only team the Challenge didn‘t beat during the regular season – also losing 2-1 in Langley on July 5.
“They‘re the type of team you have to put away,” said Schneider, referencing their initial encounter in which the Challenge led 2-0 with 10 minutes to play before settling for a single point.
“If we finish our chances, I fancy us against any team we play. If we don‘t, then any team is going to have the opportunity to ground us, especially Fraser Valley because they have the ability to do that.”
The Challenge players know what is at stake – a ticket to Sunday‘s final (12:30 p.m., Apple Bowl) against the winner of the other semifinal between the No. 2 Vancouver T-Birds (11-5-0) and No. 3 Khalsa Sporting Club of Coquitlam (9-5-2). That semifinal kicks the weekend off (today, 1 p.m., Parkinson Rec Centre field), with the two teams having split their season series – Khalsa won 3-1 in Vancouver on May 5 and the T-birds prevailed 4-1 in Coquitlam on July 15.
The Challenge aren‘t looking past the Action, though.
“I expect that they‘re going to come out strong, obviously, like we are,” said attacking midfielder Roman Doutkevitch. “We‘ve had troubles with them in the past, but hopefully we can overcome that.”
With the respective scouting reports no secret, Doutkevitch anticipates another low-scoring affair, and that the first goal will play a pivotal part in the outcome.
“Once they score, they go into a shell and just try to defend their own goal. They don‘t really look to attack that often,” he said. “It‘s harder to break them down once they score. But, mainly, we‘re just working on possession and linking up with our strikers.
“Hopefully we can press hard and get that first one, because it‘ll probably be a one-goal game.”
As playoff hosts and having captured the regular-season title with a 2-0 shutout of Victoria United at the Apple Bowl last Saturday, the Challenge enter the four-team tournament as favourites. While they intend to relish that role, they aren‘t getting ahead of themselves.
“The great thing, and frustrating thing, about playoffs is it comes down to who‘s playing the best then, not during the regular season,” Schneider said. “Our guys have to be mentally prepared to put everything else aside, what we accomplished in the regular season, and treat this as a totally separate identity in itself.
“It‘s an extra special thing for us to be in the playoffs on our own doing in the regular season. And to be able to play on our home pitch, something we‘re familiar with, will be a big deal for our guys. Hopefully it will get us over the top, too.”
EXTRA POINTS: The Challenge enter the weekend as healthy as they‘ve been all season with 18 able-bodied athletes on the roster. Joel Malouf tweaked his knee in Thursday‘s practice and was the lone question mark for today‘s tilt. If Malouf can‘t go, the Challenge will have some quality options with a handful of recruits from Simon Fraser University at their disposal. . . . The Challenge fared better against the other seeds in regular-season play. They were 1-1-0 against the T-Birds, dropping their season opener 1-0 in Vancouver on May 2 before avenging that defeat with 3-1 victory on May 30. The Challenge swept Khalsa, winning 2-1 in Coquitlam on June 6 and 2-0 at CNC on June 27. Top of Page
