Carman post-season hopes are in doubt-Carman Valley Leader

Carman post-season hopes are in doubt


By Gene Still
Friday August 25, 2006

Carman Valley Leader — After finally making the playoffs last year, the Carman Kickers headed into the 2006 season with high hopes of not only making the post season but positioning themselves in the standings to make a serious playoff run.
And starting the season with a 2-1 record including an offensive outburst during a 7-2 victory over Colo Colo on June 9, the prospects looked good for Carman to make their pre-season aspirations a reality. However that turned out to be their last victory (as of press time).
But it wasn't meant to be this year as one and two-goal defeats, slow starts and losing their best offensive player and team leader early in the season, left Carman on the outside looking in as far as a playoff spot is concerned.
The Kickers have three games remaining in their regular schedule but were all but eliminated from post season contention with their loss on Monday to the St. James Hurricane. They were in sixth and last place in the Black Conference of the Fourth Division and Hoogerdijk said their only slim hope for making the playoffs involved catching Fusion.
But even then, if they ended up in a tie, Hoogerdijk said it seems as if the tie-breaker would favour Fusion because of a better record in contests with Carman.
"There are three games (left) for a possible nine points for us. But even if we tie them, they have an advantage in the tie-breaker of head-to-head games with us," said Carman Coach William Hoogerdijk.
He added that it's been a frustrating fifth year for him at the helm of the Kickers.
"It's tough and disappointing when you look at the standings and you're 2-9-2," Hoogerdijk said.
Losing high-scoring striker Lyle Vanveen to a knee injury after their third game didn't help the Kickers' cause. The coach noted that Vanveen was not only an offensive threat, but he helped out the team defensively and was a leader by example on and off the field.
"There's no way to say how badly that hurts you to lose somebody like Lyle,"
Hoogerdijk said. "Those are the kind of guys you're going to miss and are hard to replace."
The coach reflected on their three defeats by a single goal and the two ties and wondered what may have happened if Vanveen, one of the league's top scorers at the time of his injury, had been in the line-up.
"When you look at the one-goal games we lost and the games we tied, you can't help but wonder what could've been," he said.
The coach was quick to add that he was proud of the effort and character displayed by the team as they battled in every contest, regardless of the score.
"But you can't lose sight of the fact that our guys played hard every night and haven't given up," Hoogerdijk said.