It might be called “Starlight Stadium,” but you can’t play under starlight alone.
So when the lights went out in the 44th minute of Cowichan LMG’s Div. 1 men’s soccer match against Vic West last Friday night, the teams had to go to their dressing rooms for an extended break.
Cowichan’s dressing room was unheated, but the team came out hot, scoring three times in the second half in a 3-0 win to snap a four-game losing streak and five-game winless streak.
Kwasun Cook opened the scoring with a free kick in the 67th minute, ending a two-game goalless drought for the club and putting a smile on the face of everyone except coach Ryan Flynn. In such a jubilant moment, the players on the bench had to ask Flynn why he wasn’t smiling.
“I told them it’s not that I didn’t care about that goal going in,” he recalled. “I care about the next goal that’s going in.”
The next goal, and the one after that, came from Mike Daniels, who had another outstanding game after being named Man of the Match a week earlier.
“He wanted the hard hat back, but he didn’t get it, even though he scored two goals,” Flynn said of Daniels.
The hard hat instead went to the reliable Govinda Innes.
“He had a great game,” Flynn said. “Playing defence, he was more confident about his game. It felt like an easy game for him. He feels he’s pretty close to where he wants to be.”
Other standouts included team captain Colin Knight, and Mateo Kostering and Jordan Korven at centre back. Darian Achurch, called in from the Cowichan 49ers, earned his first Div. 1 shutout of the year to go with six in the O35 league — although he only had to make one save in each half.
Cowichan goes into the break with six wins, two draws and five losses on the season. The team’s next game is a home test against Powell River at 2 p.m. on Jan. 16.
“All in all, it was a good way to end the year. We’re above .500, close to where we want to be.”
The Div. 1 team has signed Connor Crichton for the rest of the season after five appearances as a call-up from Div. 3 Cowichan Oak FC. The Oak played to a 1-1 draw with Saanich Fusion Matadors at Lochside turf last Sunday, and coach Jonas Golf-Myers wished he could have given the former captain a better send-off.
“We are really going to miss his leadership and quality both on and off the pitch,” Golf-Myers said. “He did manage to snag a lovely tuque at our team Secret Santa, though it does have a pretty regrettable team crest on it…”
Saanich opened the scoring with a header in the 25th minute, and Stevan Zoric replied in the 70th with a volley over the keeper.
“We controlled the game but in the end just couldn’t find a second,” Golf-Myers said.
New signings Jacob Ready and Logan Kits fit in seamlessly in their debuts with The Oak, who are in the middle of the Div. 3 pack with six wins, four draws and five losses. The team will visit JDF Kings at Royal Bay Secondary on Jan. 16.
In Div. 4, the Cowichan Fury had their match against Cook Street United postponed because of snow on the Sherman Road turf. The Fury will return with a road game on Jan. 16.