Kickers ousted from playoffs -Carman Valley Leader

By Gene Still
Friday September 30, 2005

Carman Valley Leader — The Carman Kickers 2005 season came to an abrupt end last Saturday in Winnipeg. Playing in their first-ever playoff game, the Kickers were defeated 5-1 on Sept. 24 by the favoured Winnipeg Triumph. The defeat officially eliminated the Kickers from playoff contention. Carman Coach William Hoogerdijk said the Kickers didn’t get off to a very good start. “At first I thought we respected them a little too much,” Hoogerdijk said. “Plus we had some ‘jitters” at first with it being the first playoff game for this team. “They (Triumph) don’t defend passively either. They come right after you.” The slow start proved costly on the scoreboard as the host Triumph built up a 2-0 lead before the match was 25 minutes old. Carman settled down soon after the second goal and played their opponents evenly. Improved play“We actually held them off pretty well after their first two goals,” Hoogerdijk said. But the Triumph ended up scoring just before half-time to essentially put the contest out-of-reach with a commanding 3-0 lead. And the host squad from Winnipeg scored twice more in the final frame before Peter VanKerkhof recorded the Kickers’ only tally of the day late in the contest to make it a 5-1 final. Hoogerdijk said while it was a disappointing outcome, he noted that they were facing a very talented squad that finished third overall in the league standings with a 12-6 mark. “The guys (Kickers) played well, played hard. That’s definitely a positive,” Hoogerdijk said. “But full credit to them for the win. They earned it.” Despite the final score, the coach noted his netminder came up with a stellar effort for the Kickers. “Rich Vanderveen played a marvelous game. We can’t fault him on any of the goals.”