Striker Hans Schranz recorded his first hat trick of the season as the 麻豆社国产FC U-18 side returned from the holiday break with a strong 4-2 victory over West Vancouver Spuraways-93 at Ambleside on Sunday (Jan. 10).
After almost a month away from the pitch, the coaches said they were worried the players would be a bit rusty, but they hit the ground running and Cam Baker just missed a glorious opportunity to convert in front of the net in the opening minutes.
Soon after, Schranz craftily controlled a through-pass and, from 20 yards out, rifled a shot into the upper corner of the net, which even the opposition's Super-Y-level keeper couldn't touch.
Tight checking characterized much of the rest of the first half, as both teams focussed on their technical skills for accurate passing and good positioning. Squamish's skilled centre-mid duo of Taran Bir and Will Robson did well to keep control of the middle of the pitch. But a West Vancouver striker got lucky around the 35th minute with the equalizer as his header took an unexpected bounce and eluded keeper Cameron Doherty's lunge.
A couple minutes later, however, Schranz delivered a beautiful corner kick right to the head of Jotty Sidhu, who made no mistake in redirecting the ball into the twine. The same almost occurred again right before the halftime whistle, but Sidhu's powerful header was picked off.
麻豆社国产was kept on their heels for the beginning of the second half as West Vancouver pushed for the tying goal, but Doherty was sensational in net with save after spectacular save.
The team regrouped, emboldened by their captain's heroics, and Schranz again went to work on the West Vancouver defence with help from fellow striker Chad Pereira. His two goals in the ensuing 10 minutes to secure his first hat trick of the season would have broken the resolve of most teams. But West Vancouver kept pressuring and took some solace from a late goal on a brilliant shot, but that was all Doherty and his defence would allow.
The 4-2 win keeps the local lads in a tie for second place in the Gold Division. This weekend, 麻豆社国产takes a break from league competitionto travel to the Sunshine Coast for a Provincial Cup qualifying game.
