Selkirk’s mens soccer clubs off to solid start in 2005 - Selkirk Journal

Getting their kicks

Selkirk’s mens soccer clubs off to solid start in 2005

By Mark T. Buss

Friday June 10, 2005
Selkirk Journal — The Tri-S senior men’s soccer teams are sending an early message to their Manitoba Major Soccer League competitors.Finishing their 2004 seasons as also-rans before being quietly dumped from the playoffs, Selkirk’s Div. 2 and Div. 5 clubs are well on their way to more productive seasons in the MMSL.The Tri-S senior team is holding onto a .500 record of 1-1-1 while the junior club has kicked their way to first place in the fifth division with an undefeated 3-0 record.While both teams find themselves in solid standing, midfielder Paul Gadient said both sides are determined to keep moving the ball forward.“We got off to an awful start last year so we’re making a push to move up a division this year,” Gadient said. “Both teams are looking good.”Last year the Div. 2 squad started the season 1-4 and eventually ended up finishing fifth out of the 12-team division with a 9-7-6 record. They made a point of getting out of the gate early with a 2-2 tie against the St. James Spurs May 19: a game Tri-S controlled with goals from Kelly Kowalchuk and Rob Markevich but they allowed the Spurs back in.“They really only had two chances and they scored on both of them,” Gadient said. “We dominated them but that’s how things go sometimes.”Selkirk continued their dominant play against IPAC Ukraine with a rousing 2-0 win May 30 but came up short in a 4-1 loss to Spitfire F.C. June 5.Spitfire moved up after finishing with a 20-1-1 record in the third division last year and Gadient believes they will be one of the teams to beat in Div. 2.The Tri-S Div. 5 team has been more than a pleasant surprise so far this season. Closing the 2004 campaign at 11-6-7, Selkirk has found its offensive touch offence scoring 11 times in three games with five of those goals coming off the foot of Chris Spicer.Selkirk defeated the King’s Park Rangers 5-0 in their season opener May 25 and followed that up four days later with a 7-2 win over Croatia United.Travelling to Optimist Park June 6, Selkirk came out on top 2-1 in a tough contest with The Black Watch.Div. 2 Tri-S coach Ken Simperl believes both teams are having more success because they’ve simply had more time to play together. Last season an influx of new and unfamiliar players were thrown together in a less than cohesive mixture.“Both teams are starting to play together as teams and we’re using each others strengths to our advantage,” Simperl said. “We have a good blend of youth and we don’t have to give up skill for team speed.”“It’s going to be a long season and we’re hoping to gather speed as we go.”The next Tri-S Div. 2 game will be a home contest Jun 12 when they host the Chilean Selects at 7 p.m. at the Selkirk Rec Complex. The Div. 5 squad will be on the road that same night when they play the Silver Bullets at John Blumberg in Winnipeg.