Lucania toughs out final victory-Winnipeg Free Press

Lucania toughs out final victory
Mon Oct 3 2005
By Allan Besson
Midfielder Mike Kolinski converted a sweet pass from Rob Gale 32 minutes into the first half for the winner as Lucania defeated Sons Of Italy 2-0 to win the Manitoba Major Soccer League championship yesterday.
"We broke out of our end on a quick counter with a four on three," recalled Kolinski after the game. "I was running up the opposite wing where it was wide open and Gale made a nice cut across the centre, saw me open, flipped the ball through and that is what happened.
"I didn't expect it would happen that way," Kolinski went on. "I had a couple of chances in the beginning, but I was just fortunate to have the ball slip through the defenders legs and come out to my foot so I just buried my chance."
Sons of Italy defeated Ital-Inter 2-0 in one semifinal Saturday to get to yesterday's game, while in the other, Lucania blanked Maples Juventus 6-0, giving goalkeeper Brian Oleksiuk two shutouts in as many days.
In a chippy game that had both teams trash-talking each other both on the field and at the bench, Lucania held the edge throughout the match.
"It was a physical game right from the start, but in the cup final or the big game, the boys always seem to settle down and play well," said Bob Clarke, who coached Lucania to a record of 18 wins, one loss and three ties to finish first in league play this year. "They've been there before, and right from the back to the front it was a solid game for 90 minutes today." "I thought this was a very hard fought game," said Sons of Italy coach Larry Ladobruk. "Both teams actually played fairly well. It was just that our last balls into the box and towards the net were unsatisfactory. They were either short or long, or just not on target. We just didn't get the job done."
Lucania's game plan from the opening kick off was to match Sons of Italy physically, and eventually allow their own skills to take over. "And it seemed to work out that way," said Clarke. "We matched them from the start and our composure and experience just took over."
Clarke said it has been a tough season over all. "There are good teams in Winnipeg, and tough competition. We came through it all, got some breaks and that is why we won everything. This is the end for Manitoba, but we go to Calgary on Wednesday for the Nationals. We'll see what happens out there."
Tempers flared on the field in the second half as Sons of Italy tried desperately to even the score, but at the 65th minute mark their chances were dealt a blow when they lost Steve Rebizant, who drew a red card from the referee for throwing a punch and had to leave the game.
Lucania's insurance marker was scored at the 85th minute when Tim Colisimo crossed the ball in front of the net and it bounced off of a defender, past Sons of Italy goalkeeper Steve Sawatzky.