Carman Valley Leader June 7/04-Kickers recover from loss with win over Saints

Kickers recover from loss with win over Saints
Earn first victory of season

By Gene Still

Carman Valley Leader — The Carman Kickers offered a mixed bag when it came to their on-field performances during their last two games.

Reservoir 3 Kickers 2
Unlike their previous game, a forefeit loss to Ragnarok because of a lack of players, the Kickers managed to have enough players to hit the field at Carman Collegiate for their May 29 match-up with the Reservoir Dogs.
However, the end result was the same as they dropped a 3-2 decision.
Reservoir opened the scoring just before the ten minute mark of the opening half. Rich Vanderveen then tied it for Carman, but the Dogs regained their advantage with a late tally just before the intermission.
Despite trailing by a goal, Kickers’ coach William Hoogerdijk said his club had done a solid job overall.
“We played fairly well in the first half and tried to make a few adjustments,” Hoogerdijk said. “I tried to get our defense to play up a little more and play tighter.”
However those adjustments failed to yield success as the Dogs essentially carried the play and came close to dominating the final half.
“We were extremely flat in the second half,” Hoogerdijk said.
And that proved costly as Ragnarok scored about seven minutes into the half to give them what turned out to be a commanding two goal lead.
Hoogerdijk said Carman was simply unable to muster any serious pressure to threaten the visitors from Winnipeg.
“There was plenty of time to come back, but considering the way we were playing, we just couldn’t do it,” he said. “It sort of iced the result for them.”
The Kickers did manage a late tally as Brazilian newcomer, Fabrico Crego, pulled the home squad to within one with about five minutes left in regulation. But that was as close as it got, as the Dogs went on to earn a 3-2 victory.
“It was the old cliché of too little, too late,” Hoogerdijk said.

Kickers 4 St. James 0
Carman bounced back from their disappointing showing against Reservoir to register their first victory of the season over the St. James Saints.
“I tried to challenge the guys and make them realize that we have enough skill to win in this league,” Hoogerdijk said.
And issuing that “challenge” appeared to pay dividends for Carman, at least during the majority of the opening half of their June 1 contest against the visiting Saints.
“The guys came out strong,” Hoogerdijk said. “Our defense played really well together.”
Jordan Vanderveen came close to opening the scoring about 15 minutes into the contest but just couldn’t get enough on his kick from close in, on the St. James’ netminder. But teammate Pete Vanderzwaag took advantage of the ensuing goalmouth scramble to make it 1-0 for home side.
Despite carrying and dominating at times, the clubs went into the intermission with Carman only leading by a single goal.
For Hoogerdijk, the second half took on the unsettling appearance of their previous match with Reservoir. But instead of it being a case of the Kickers coming out flat, the coach said it just seemed that the Saints were “fired up” and swung the momentum clearly in their favour.
“The second half we started off real slow and were a little tentative,” Hoogerdijk said. “But slowly it turned around.”
After St. James carried much of the play for about the first 15 minutes of action, Carman started to regain control. The Kickers even had two goals disallowed because of offside calls.
But the fact they were starting to rally showed when it led to a missed penalty shot that was awarded to Crego.
Hoogerdijk said by forcing the Saints into a penalty shot situation was a clear indicator the momentum was shifting.
This was proven a few minutes later as Jordan Vanderveen made it 2-0. Then, with about eight minutes remaining, Lyle Vanveen recorded his first of the season on a pass from Kendall Ferris.
Darcy Davis then fired a shot between the legs of the St. James’ goalie to make it a 4-0 final for the Kickers.
Despite a sluggish start in the second half, the coach was impressed with the way his team rallied.
“It’s a growing process throughout the season and we showed some character weathering the storm and came through in the second half,” Hoogerdijk said.
Kickers’ notebook: The split left Carman with 1-2 record in the Fourth Division of the Manitoba Major Soccer League. The Kickers’ next home game is Thursday, June 10 at 7:30 p.m. at the Carman Collegiate Soccer Field when they host Southport.