Former champs struggle to ninth-place finish at nationals - WFP

Tue Oct 11 2005
By Allan Besson
SOMETIMES the breaks work in your favour. Sometimes times they don't.
"We've been here (Canadian Senior Soccer Championships) so often," said Lucania team captain Russ Harder, whose Manitoba squad settled for a 2-0 ninth-place win over Yukon yesterday in Calgary. "We understand that there are lucky breaks here and there. In 2000, when we won the championship, we had a few breaks go our way. This year we didn't have any, so I guess it evens out."
Franco Cassano scored in the first half for Lucania and Rob Gale added the other goal in the second half.
"Ninth place is kind of embarrassing," said Harder, a centre back. "This was definitely the worst we have finished in my nine years with the team. We have won a gold, a couple of bronze and fifth. This year we have nothing to show for it."
Lucania drew with Alberta 1-1 in first game of the tournament, and lost to Saskatchewan 5-2 in the second. In the consolation rounds, Lucania beat Newfoundland 2-0 and then took on Yukon.
"We looked beyond the win (with Saskatchewan)," said Harder, "and we got away from our game. We've got to retool a bit for next year now and look for some new players. We had a great year in Manitoba winning the MSA Cup, league and playoffs. But we'll have to be a little more focused on being competitive in Nationals for next year." Sweat Shack took seventh overall in the women's senior championship, beating Newfoundland 2-1.
"Our seed was seventh, so we finished in our seed," said Manitoba coach Martyn Daly, "but realistically our goal was to finish in the top five."
Sweat Shack got a goal from Rose Bohemier and then won the game on penalty kicks as the teams were tied 1-1 after regulation.
With an average age of 22, Daly said Sweat Shack will be back next year:
"We know what we have to do to get better. That's why these things are a good benchmark, you can see what separates you from the best, and get a good sense of the things we have to work on to close that gap."
At Sydney, N.S., the South End United Under-18 girls were aiming to finish in the medal round, and that is what they did yesterday but fell short of a bronze when they lost 4-1 to Quebec. "The girls played really well,' said their coach Judy Pirnie. "We're not disappointed as long as the kids gave a 100 per cent performance, and they did."
South End's lone goal was scored by Jessica Perrault. "We were happy to have made it into the medal round," said Pirnie, whose team beat Prince Edward Island 7-1, New Brunswick 5-1, tied Saskatchewan 1-1 and lost to Ontario 4-1 in round-robin play.
In the men's under-18 championship, Phoenix finished 10th after losing to Prince Edward Island 4-3. The Manitobans' finished the round robin with one tie (1-1 with New Brunswick) and three losses, 3-0 to Ontario, 6-1 to Quebec and 5-3 to Nova Scotia.
In the under-14 girls nationals in Moncton, N.B., the Bonivital Flames finished fourth after losing to Alberta 3-1. The Flames finished first in the three-team pool with victories of 5-0 over New Brunswick and 3-0 over British Columbia. In semifinal play, they lost 5-1 to Ontario.
Nova Scotia beat Brandon United Cougars 2-1 in the under-14 boys seventh-place final.
At Mount Pearl, Nfld., Manitoba's Phoenix defeated P.E.I. 7-1 to take ninth place in the boys under-16 championship, after losing all four of its round robin games. On the under-16 girls side, Bonivital Flames defeated Newfoundland 6-3 to finish sixth.
allan.besson@freepress.mb.ca