Carman Valley Leader — Kickers doubled up by first place Penarol

By Gene Still

The Carman Kickers travelled to Winnipeg last Monday evening with a lot on the line to face the class of this year’s Fourth Division. Kickers’ coach William Hoogerdijk knew it would be a difficult test for his squad because Penarol had already clinched first place with an impressive 18-2 record. They were also a team that was motivated after coming off an upset loss to Kildonan Fusion, a club that has long since been eliminated from the playoffs and were sitting in tenth place of the 12 team division. In addition, the Kickers were locked in a battle for a playoff berth with Ragnarok, Reservoir Dogs and the Rangers. Despite the additional challenges facing the visitors, the Kickers’ held their own on the scoreboard for the opening ten minutes. “We played very well against them – for the most part,” Hoogerdijk said. However there were a few rough moments at the beginning while the Carman players tried to adjust to a new strategy. “We started pretty tentatively at first, because we played differently that we had all year. It was a much more defensive system than what our guys were use to,” Hoogerdijk explained. And it seemed to work, even after Penarol opened the scoring at the 10 minute mark of the opening frame. “It was almost like the guys said, “okay, that’s just one goal but we’re still playing well so let’s try and minimize their chances’,” Hoogerdijk said. That approach paid dividends as five minutes later, Mike VanderVelde tied it. Despite the commitment to defense, Penarol showed why they’re considered the top team in the division by scoring three more times on starting netminder Rich Vanderveen, before the intermission. Trailing 4-1 going into the second half, Hoogerdijk said they refused to get discouraged and continued to work hard but once again it was Penarol who scored first to take what seemed like a commanding four goal lead. But Lyle Vanveen scored for the Kickers on a breakaway and then Joel Bilodeau got Carman’s third tally with about 15 minutes remaining in the contest. That was as close at the Kickers would get on this night, as Penarol scored once more near the end of regulation. “The score was 6-3, but I thought we played them stronger than the end result,” Hoogerdijk said. “We know it’s not impossible to beat these guys. But everybody on our team has to do their jobs and play very well at the same time for the entire game.” The coach added the loss left Carman with a 7-9-4 record and battling for eighth spot overall. He noted that the Kickers will not only have to win their final match, but may also have to depend on some help from other clubs in the division to ensure a post season spot. Kickers’ notebook: Carman’s final home game of the regular season is this Saturday, Sept. 11 at 3 p.m. at Carman Collegiate when they host Kildonan Fusion.