Sons of Italy defend title - The Chronicle-Journal

Sons of Italy defend title

By David Trifunov - The Chronicle-Journal September 06, 2005 Nolly Sanchez scored twice as Winnipeg Sons of Italy defeated Thunder Bay Italia-Juventus 2-1 on Monday at the $8,000 Thunder Bay Invitational soccer tournament at Fort William Stadium.It’s the same trophy that the Manitoba team won last year.“We had a good game,” said Sanchez, a former pro from Guatemala. “It’s amazing how hard the boys worked. It was a great victory.”With the win also comes $4,500 in prize money while Juve collects $1,500.But Thunder Bay teams were shut out of championships after a weekend of play. The Winnipeg Phoenix defeated the Winnipeg Sweat Shack 2-1 after nine rounds of penalty kicks to decide the women’s draw.A total of 13 clubs (five women’s and eight men’s) competed. The Lakehead Express and Thunder Bay Impact both lost in the women’s semifinal stage.Thunder Bay Croatia finished third on the men’s side and collected $600.Sons of Italy’s Frank Brancore was awarded the Murray Slomke Trophy as tournament MVP.But it was Sanchez who had the opposition bewildered all weekend. Sons of Italy coach Larry Ladobruk estimated his star striker scored 10 of the team’s 18 goals. “Nolly was a dominant player,” Ladobruk said, “and teams couldn’t cover him man on man. . . . Once they had to send two guys to defend him, things opened things up for us.”While the opposition opened up for Sanchez, the Sons of Italy defence kept matters closed in the back. Goalie Steve Sawatzky backstopped his club, leaders of the Manitoba first division, to just one goal against in six games.It was much the same story in the final. Italia-Juventus spent much of the first 45 minutes defending, despite the influx of Thunder Bay Chill reinforcements.The local team welcomed seven Chill players into the lineup with Premier Development League experience this season; unfortunately, there was no consistent pressure on the Sons of Italy’s back four.Juve forwards Doco Wesseh and Ron Badanai had one or two scattered chances, but most came from outside the danger area.Sanchez enjoyed much deeper play in the Juve end. He made it 1-0 about 30 minutes into the first half. Sanchez twice blocked clearing attempts by Chill defenders. The final stop came against Juve goalie Stephen Paterson which allowed Sanchez to score into an almost empty net.The lead doubled just three minutes later. Another long pass came drifting into the goal area. Sanchez flicked it with his head behind himself and into the net.But Juventus emerged from the halftime break a more determined club. Attacking runs in the box generated a penalty kick in the 58th minute after Tony Valente was fouled.Wesseh’s effort, however, was stopped by Sawatzky diving low to his right.Juve midfielder Dave Colistro finally broke the extended shutout string in the final minute of play. Adam Augruso earned a penalty call when he was sandwiched by Sawatzky and a Winnipeg defender as the trio chased a loose ball in the area.“We were slow starting all tournament,” Colistro said, “and you can’t do that against a striker like they had (in Sanchez). . . . But we seemed to settle down and tried to push, and push and push. We just weren’t lucky in front of the net.”