The finals of the Howe Sound Men's Soccer League (HSMSL) have been set and the two teams left standing are Galileo and Khalsa after several months of action.
The second round of the playoffs saw Khalsa put on a brilliant performance to eliminate the defending champion Ellis Moving Eagles 4-1 on Sunday (April 3). According to Khalsa head coach Jack Bir, it was one of the team's best efforts of the season.
"I thought we played well, especially in the first half," he said. "We were passing and moving the ball around very well and you have to give the guys some credit."
Khalsa came out flying, controlling the play early on and using their speed and passing to create several scoring chances. The game remained scoreless and Ellis made a bit of a push back at the 30-minute mark of the first half when they substituted in several fresh legs.
Rory Fulber opened the scoring at the 38-minute mark after a nice set-up. The floodgates were open after that goal as Fulber added another marker three minutes later and then scored on a penalty kick shortly after that for the natural hat trick. Khalsa walked away from the first half with a 3-0 lead and Eagles head coach Phil Ellis admitted his team simply didn't bring its "A" game on the day.
"The guys were just stunned," he said of the first half. "We weren't playing well positionally and they were just much more organized than us."
The Eagles got on the board in the second half when Todd Rippon wired home a penalty kick and Khalsa's Pardeep Sangha added a late goal to make the final score 4-1.
Ellis said the bye week might have contributed to some rust for the Eagles.
"I don't think it was a good thing for us," he said of the week off. "We just seemed to be complacent out there. They had position on us, but I do think we owned the second half. But it just wasn't enough."
In the league's other semifinal game, Dyer Straits gave Galileo a scare but fell 1-0 in a nail-biting game for both teams. The game was scoreless for the majority of the afternoon but Galileo's Robbie Nahanee scored a goal late to secure the victory. The Straits had several chances to score and stellar goaltending from Sam Dunkley but couldn't capitalize.
"I thought we played a great team game today," said Straits head coach Dave Harrison. "We had so many chances, a bunch of breakaways and some crossbars, but this was one of the best team games I've ever been a part of. We shouldn't be ashamed with our effort today."
The day's final game saw Zephyr pick up their first win in franchise history, defeating Lilwat7uhl 3-2 to clinch fifth place in the league. Peter Cox scored a pair of goals for Zephyr, with James Whalen adding the other goal.
It should be an interesting final as Galileo and Khalsa have had some memorable encounters during the regular season. Galileo has had Khalsa's number, winning two of the four team's games, with the remaining two games ending in draws. According to Bir, if his team plays like it did against the Eagles, a win is not out of the question.
"It really depends on how the kids want to play," he said. "We need a good start but I'd like to see more consistency from the refs. It could get rough."
The two teams do have some bad blood from a match back on Oct. 17, when Galileo's Adrian Oreamuno collided with Khalsa's Baljeet Binning, resulting in a black eye for Oreamuno. Tempers flared but cooler heads prevailed - however, with everything on the line it could be a different story.
The HSMSL championship game will take place on Saturday (April 9) at 3 p.m. at Brennan Park field. Dyer Straits and the Ellis Moving Eagles will also hit the field for the third-place game, which begins at 1:30 p.m.
