Thanksgiving may have cut Squamish FC's roster short, but it didn't slow their attack against B United during the Vancouver Metro Soccer League away game Saturday (Oct. 6).
Despite losing a number of players to family commitments, the 12-man team pressured offensively all game and remains undefeated after a 3-3 draw with the Vancouver club. Manager Dave Harrison said the only problem was they couldn't capitalize on all their chances, and in fact, they should have come home with their third victory of the season.
"We should have won the game easily," he said.
"We just didn't score the chances we had. But it was a good effort, the team played pretty well."
Squamish started out blasting and missed a chance to go up front early, but B United struck first four minutes into the game when Squamish couldn't clear a scramble in the box. Minutes later, Chris Golaiy hit the post and then the keeper before Russell Joel tapped in the rebound.
Near the end of the first half, Squamish went ahead when Darryl Simmons received a pass from Joel before being tackled. In a last ditch effort, Simmons slipped the ball into the net while still on the ground. B United evened the score at 2 apiece 20 minutes later when a cross-pass was volleyed over keeper Allan Carson into the top corner.
Squamish bounced back to take the lead when Golaiy scored on a pass from Joel. B United leveled the game when a forward beat the offside trap and passed to a forward at the far corner for the goal.Harrison said the team has to make sure it buries its chances against the tougher games coming up. He's confidant their aggressive style will continue to be successful.
"We're putting lots of pressure on teams. We're not sitting back defending, we're going forward attacking and it's going really well."
Now standing in third place, Squamish battles second place Douglas Park and the league-leading Bombastic SC over back-to-back weekends at the end of the month.
Squamish is playing at home over the next two weeks, facing Signmaster SC on Saturday (Oct. 13) and the West Van Royals on Oct. 20 at Brennan Park.
Fans are encouraged to come out and watch the club, which leads the league in goals with 17 over five games. They remain undefeated with two wins and three draws.
