Week in Soccer Review, July 12th, 2019

This Week in Vancouver Island Soccer... Canadian Premier League: Our Cavalry rematch last week saw Pacific FC starting off the Fall Season of the CPL with a loss at home, which puts us in 5th place on a brand new table with zero points. The Fall Season has considerably more games in it than the Spring Season, which means the latter half of this year will be more of a marathon than a sprint. Accumulated injuries will be defining factors over, not just Pacific FC's potential success, but other clubs as well. Pacific FC will take on Spring Season runners-up Forge FC tomorrow at Westhills Stadium, kickoff is at 3 PM. In addition to regular league action, this week we were also treated to a few surprising matches in the Canadian Championship. In historic firsts for the league, teams from the CPL challenged two clubs from the MLS in what turned out to be tightly contested draws, undoubtedly surprising those who assumed that the MLS teams would easily outplay the new upstarts. USL League 2, Northwest Division: With the Juan de Fuca Plate on the line, the Victoria Highlanders took on the Vancouver TSS Rovers at home last week, but came up short. This is likely due to a grand total of 5 of our players departing the club shortly before the match, some of whom had been instrumental in our season's successes up to that point. We wish our lads who are moving on to greener pastures all the best... Even if some of us wish they could've stayed for just one more game. The roster shakeup likely also contributed to a 1-2 loss away to Sounders U-23s over the weekend. With two more games away at Calgary remaining for the regular league, and the Highlanders having slipped down the table to 3rd, our hopes of a post-season are looking bleak, but not impossible. Seattle, who currently enjoy the top spot on the table, would have to lose their final game and the Highlanders would have to win their final two matches vs. Calgary to come out on top. Stranger things have happened. Pacific Coast Soccer League: The Victoria Highlanders reserves in the PCSL suffered their first defeat of the season to FC Tigers Vancouver last week, dropping them to second place on the table. It's entirely possible for the Highlanders to regain their position as they have 3 games in hand over the Tigers with only a 3 point difference. With 4 games left in the regular season, it's looking extremely likely that the Highlanders reserve team will be seeing some post season action. In the PCSL, the top 4 teams from regular league play go on to compete in the Challenge Cup, a grueling two-day affair that can be fairly entertaining. It's also a tournament that we've never won, though we have come close. Women's Premier Soccer League, Northwest Conference: The Vancouver Island FC's season came to a close with their final game at home which ended in a 3-1 win over Vancouver TSS Rovers. This landed them with 18 total points for the season, setting them comfortably in second place in the conference behind Seattle Sounders Women, with a record of 6 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws. Not a bad inaugural season! We're looking forward to seeing what they can accomplish next year. And now you're all caught up.