Another season for the Howe Sound Men's Soccer League wrapped up on Saturday (April 10) with a play off sweep by Ellis Moving Eagles.
Ellis won their fourth straight play off game, with a score of 2 - 1 against Dyer Straits, securing the top playoff spot with 12 points.
"It was a pretty competitive game and I would say on the whole we played really hard," said coach Dan Ellis.
Even with plenty of subs on the sidelines it was Ellis himself who stepped into the goal crease to cover for the team's regular goaltender who is out nursing a knee injury.
"Thankfully the guys were really good in front of me and I really didn't have much to do especially in the first half."
Team Ellis player Nathan Ward scored the first goal of the game late in the first half of the game. Although the team could win the playoffs with a tying final game, Ellis said he knew the team was playing to win the game.
"We just need a tie to take the whole thing but we were playing to win not just a tie."
With wind at their backs in the second half Dyer Straits started to build momentum towards the Ellis net, which eventually lead to a header goal by Jason Patchell.
"I'll tell you as soon as the ball came into our half my heart started pounding out of fear," Ellis said. "They did score a really nice goal off that header and I don't know if I could have gotten that even if I was in tip-top shape and a great goalie."
Shortly after Dyer tied up the game, Ellis's Chris Knight headed the ball deep into the top corner of the net, giving Ellis the game winning goal.
"My header was sweet, hit my head and sailed into the net," Knight said.
Dyer Straits coach Dave Harrison said he was please with how his team played and with the calibre of each of the three game goals.
"Everybody played well again and all three goals were really good goals there wasn't a bad one in the bunch," said Harrison.
Although the entire Dyer bunch played well, Harrison said Ellis just managed to play better.
"Ellis a good team to play against, it's always a good game when we play them. I think on the whole, hey just deserved to with the game, they were a little bit better than us."
Dyer played exceptionally well this year because of the fine balance between having veteran players on the team and having a few younger players, according to Harrison.
Team Ellis really hit their stride after the Christmas break with seven straight wins including Saturday's game.
"We really started to gel and played like a worthy champion for the second half of the season."
While the Ellis Moving Eagles were tearing up the pitch with Dyer Straits on one field, regular season dominators Canex was playing against Khalsa on another Brennan Park field.
Canex coach Ron Nahanee said the team played well even though a few players missed the Saturday afternoon game because of confusion over game times.
"So I was a little stressing but we had the core of the guys show up and we played well."
Khalsa controlled the game for the first 20 minutes, but with Greg Joseph booting a goal pass Khalsa's goaltender Canex managed to turn the tables.
"It was actually a pretty tight first half," said Nahanee.
A Canex goal by James Whalen, and two by Gary O'Neil secured the 4-1 win for Canex.
Despite a sideline scuffle between two league players, the season ended on a high note for Canex. With only one game loss in the play offs, against Ellis in mid-March, the regular season champs want a cleaner winning record next year.
"I think we did well [in the entire season] but I don't think we played as well as we could have," Nahanee said.
"If you think about it we were one goal away from being undefeated the whole season. We lost to Ellis 2-1 and we really pushed them there a just couldn't have got that tying goal."
Nahanee said next year he hopes the team starts training earlier in the season to help gel the team together earlier in the year.
Zephyr FC started mid-way through the season and despite valiant efforts ended in last place in the league standings with 11 straight losses.
"We have a lot of intelligent interesting guys from all over the world and it's been a pleasure playing soccer with them," said Zephyr team coach Peter Cox.
In preparation for next season Cox said he plans to get a full roster of players including a permanent goalie and brush up on his own personal knowledge of soccer.
After the Saturday afternoon games the league recognized team MVP's at an award ceremony held at the Red Bench Diner in Brackendale.
Team Ellis MVP Donovan Pereira, Dyer Straits MVP Sam Dunkley and Canex MVP Mark Hoffmann, Zephyr MVP Stuart MacDonald and Khalsa MVP Nevin Bir were recognized for their contributions to their teams.
"It season went fine but the numbers are low because of the five teams," said 麻豆社国产Soccer Association president Jose Oreamuno.
"If we had a trophy to give to the most sportsman like team we'd give it to Zephyr FC, since it's a team that hasn't won any games but they show up every week with all the right numbers and they play with heart. We're hoping that the team sticks together for the next season."
Many of the coaches expressed their hopes to expand the league in the upcoming season to six or even eight teams.
"If we had more participation, more people willing to step up and organize teams the league would be even stronger," Ellis said.
The 2010-2011 season starts the weekend after Labour Day in September, however registration and most team practices kick off in August.
In the meantime a co-ed summer league is planned for the summer months. Anyone interested in joining a regular season men's or a co-ed summer team should contact Oreamuno at [email protected].
