It took extra time, but the Cowichan 49ers got past West Van FC in the first round of the BC Soccer Men’s Masters A Cup last Sunday afternoon.
The 49ers got goals from Dave Tuckey and Neall Rowlings in extra time as they defeated West Van 2-0 in West Vancouver. Both goalies, including Cowichan’s Darian Achurch, stood on their heads in the first 90 minutes to force their aging teammates to play another half hour.
Tuckey slammed home a one-timer off a rebound in the first half of extra time, then Rowlings slipped around West Van’s tall keeper to score off a feed from Matt Arnett. Matthew James was named Man of the Match for Cowichan.
“He has been such a good pickup this year,” Rowlings said of James.
The 49ers had a longer bench than the home team, and boasted more fan support as well as several family members surprised players by showing up at the field.
Cowichan will return to the Mainland this Saturday to visit Port Moody SC Rangers in a battle between the Island cup champions and Vancouver Metro Soccer League cup champs at Trasolini Turf at noon. If the 49ers win, they’ll have a home game the following weekend in the middle of the Buckskin tournament. They aren’t going to worry about that yet.
“We do not want to get ahead of ourselves,” Rowlings cautioned. “Port Moody is good; lots of ex pros.”
The news was not as positive for the other two Cowichan men’s teams that were in action last weekend.
Cowichan LMG was ousted from the Men’s A Cup tournament after a first-round loss to Rinos VSC at South Surrey Athletic Park, and the Cowichan Steelheads were eliminated from the Men’s Masters B Cup with a 5-1 loss to Croatia SC in Burnaby.