Carman Valley Leader - Kickers split week in pursuit of playoff spot

By Gene Still

It was a mixed bag for the Carman Kickers as they split their last two games in their attempt to nail down a playoff spot in the Fourth Division of the Manitoba Major Soccer League.Kickers 2 Alliance 0Carman got back on the winning track with an impressive shutout victory over Alliance. With only a tie and two losses to show for their previous three contests, on August 20 the Kickers travelled to Winnipeg to face the host Alliance. And considering that Alliance is mired near the bottom of the division with only four wins this season against 13 losses (going into the Friday night contest), Carman had good reason to be hopeful to emerge victorious. But Kickers’ coach William Hoogerdijk was quick to point out that a triumph was far from a sure thing, in part because Carman needed a regroup at half-time during their previous meeting earlier this season with Alliance, to get the victory. “I told them that ‘there are three points available tonight and we need all three, not a tie or worse, a loss’,” Hoogerdijk said, regarding the pre-game talk with his players. Complicating matters for this latest matchup was the fact that the Kickers were forced to play a man short throughout the entire game. The visitors were also missing – due to prior commitments – two of their key performers, Kendall Ferris and Dale DeWitt. However, the ten players who hit the field for the Kickers more than answered the challenge as they came up with a strong performance, basically from start to finish. “This (Alliance) is a team – that the last time we played them – it was a 1-1 game at the half but we came back to ‘escape’ with the win,” Hoogerdijk said. “But it was different this time round. We went off the field at the end, knowing we earned the victory. “Everybody played solidly in their positions. They knew what they had to do.” The coach noted, that while their opposition may be struggling this year, near the bottom of the standings, a win is a win. “It’s important. It obviously feels good to win a game, especially when you play solid throughout,” Hoogerdijk said. Lyle Vanveen got what turned out the be the winner near the 20 minute mark of the opening half. Jordan Vanderveen then scored the insurance marker with about 15 minutes left in regulation to secure the 2-0 triumph. Ryan Bultena earned the shutout in net for Carman. Hoogerdijk added that along with Vanveen, Tyson Kamminga also had a strong showing for the Kickers with some stellar defensive play. New Youth 5 Kickers 2 A slow start proved very costly for Carman as they made another trek to Winnipeg. New Youth which sits solidly in second place in the division behind Penrol, showed why they’re among the elite teams this season by getting the jump on a slow starting Carman club. “We fell behind the eight-ball fairly early. We were down 2-0 before it was 20 minutes old,” Hoogerdijk said. Despite a sluggish beginning, the Kickers started to regroup but New Youth made it 3-0 with five minutes left in the opening half. “It sort of deflated the guys a bit,” Hoogerdijk said. However the coach said they tried to take advantage of the break to make some adjustments and it paid off – at first – during the opening of the final frame. Lyle Vanveen scored to make it 3-1 with a goal about ten minutes in the half. “We took some runs at them and had them in their end of the field for a while,” he said. “But then they came out and made it 4-1 about seven minutes later (after Vanveen’s goal).” Jordan Vanderveen made it a two goal spread once again with 15 minutes remaining but it was a case of too little, too late for Carman. “We were pressing them, and creating some offensive chances, but we couldn’t score,” Hoogerdijk said. New Youth added another tally with just under a minute left to secure their victory. Kickers’ notebook: Carman has a 7-9-4 record which was good enough to tie them for seventh place with Reservoir Dogs, as of press time. Carman’s final home game of the season is an afternoon matchup on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 3 p.m. when they entertain Fusion.