Portage Daily Graphic Aeros short-handed, but lucky

BY NEATE SAGER
Southport’s Matt Bernard, right, tries to win possession from Mundial’s Karl Ehrhardt.
Staff photo by Neate Sager

WINNIPEG — Southport Aeros did not put their best foot forward last night, yet managed a 1-1 tie against Mundial.The Aeros arrived at Vince Leah Community Centre with only 13 players and lost one of their two subs before the opening whistle, as Darren Reichert became ill and spent the entire match on the sidelines. Nevertheless, a brilliant goal by Steve Wasyliw and a fortunate break on a second-half penalty kick helped Southport avoid defeat.“We didn’t field our number-one lineup out there, so for us to come out with a point, it’s pretty good,” Aeros defender Danny Brooks said. “We played really great the first half. Second half, we had some chances, we had some guys playing positions they weren’t used to playing and it was a bit of a challenge for us. But we hung on. It was a good road game for us. We had to weather the storm.”The bare-bones lineup led to Southport (5-5-1) using Chris Assenmacher and Matt Bernard, both of whom normally patrol the outside, as their centre midfielders for much of the second half. While both did as well as could be expected, Mundial (3-6-3) controlled much of the final 45 minutes. The Aeros’ best second-half chances were a pair of runs down the flank by Ian McCallister and Wasyliw and both ended with a shot sailing wide of the net. Mundial was kept at bay thanks in part to Steve Assenmacher’s pair of diving saves on midfielder Kevin Chaves. The goalkeeper was eager for redemption after giving up a soft goal early. In the sixth minute, Assenmacher went down to smother a weak shot from Eduardo Sierra, only to have the ball elude him and land on the foot of James Silva for an uncontested goal.“Their keeper had a good game,” Mundial coach Ian Leatt said of Assenmacher. “I didn’t think much of him in the first half, but certainly in the second half he had a good performance.”Chaves was also foiled on the penalty kick, which was awarded in the 48th minute after a hand ball inside the 18-yard box. The midfielder hit the crossbar and the Aeros cleared the ball from danger.“It was a bad break to get the call against us in the first place,” Brooks said. “Their guy shot the ball and it hit our guy’s arm before he could do anything, But that’s kind of typical. We got the break when the guy (Chaves) hit the post.”Until that point, early in the second half, the Aeros seemed to have the upper hand. They played their best soccer in the latter portion of the opening half. Wasyliw notched his sixth goal of the season around the 25th minute when he headed in a cross from McCallister.Late in the half, McCallister was a split-second late redirecting a cross from David Roy and narrowly missed the net. Moments later, Tony Bryson had a goalmouth pass tipped out of bounds by defender Mark Figueiredo.“I had the goalie drawn out,” Bryson said. “I just saw the guy’s light-blue sock flash out at the last second. It was a close one.”Given the chances his team had later on, Leatt believed Mundial deserved a better result.“I would say that the performance in the first half was pretty even-Stevens,” he said. “The second half, we had more chances, we missed the penalty two minutes in. At the end of the day, we should have had three points.”The Aeros resume action on Thursday when Low Profile S.C. visits Southport Recreation Centre.CORNER KICKS -- Four Portage la Prairie teams will be on the pitch this weekend, though Southport United is the only one playing at home.On Sunday, United (4-5-4) hosts New Youth United (8-2-0) in a 6 p.m. match.Portage Blaze head east to a tournament in Kenora, Ont. On the youth side, Portage Cobras boys squad and Portage Hericanes girls team are entered in the Brandon Coca-Cola Classic tournament