Neither team found the back of the net, but neither was terribly upset about the 0-0 result as the Victoria Highlanders and Mid Isle Mariners wrapped up Pacific Coast Soccer League regular-season play Sunday afternoon at Royal Athletic Park.
The tie secured second place for the Mariners, leaving the Highlanders third.
The two will meet again on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in the second of two semifinals at Trillium West turf in Vancouver, following regular-season champion Vancouver United taking on Khalsa Sporting Club at 1 p.m. The two victors move on to the Sunday championship at 1 p.m. at Trillium.
“That was frustrating,” Highlanders head coach Dave Dew said of two scoring opportunities that went off bars. “It’s another draw. I’m not that disappointed.
“This game gave Brandon [Watson, the backup goalkeeper] a chance to have a game. Noah [Pawlowski, the starter] got a rest. We were missing five other starters beside Noah, so next week we re-group with Cam Hundal back in, Alex Redpath back in, Adam Ravenhill and Manny Gomez back in as well.”
The Mariners were also without a handful of regulars and were the stronger side in the opening half, before the Highlanders took that momentum away.
Craig Gorman and Cooper Barry worked a set piece beautifully, but Gorman hit the bar off the attempt for the hosts.
“It was something they cooked up at Cowichan, and I believe it was Tarnvir [Bhandal] who hit the post as well,” said Dew.
“It was a fair result,” said Mariners head coach Chris Merrimen. “Both teams battled. I thought we had the better of them in the first half, but they got the best of us in the second, so it was a pretty even match and a fair result.”
Merrimen was delighted just to get a game in after two forfeits handed his way from mainland teams FC Tiger Vancouver and Abbotsford Magnusson Ford, not that he wanted them.
“Our boys needed a little fitness,” said Merrimen. “We’ve had a few weeks off because we had the couple of teams forfeit from Vancouver, which is unfortunate. We and the Highlanders all made our trips to Vancouver, Kamloops and Kelowna, so it’s tough when they won’t come here and play us.”
In the end, the Highlanders finished the season at 8-7-1 for 31 points with 33 goals for and 17 against for a goal differential of plus-16. The Mariners were 10-2-4 with for 33 points with 24 goals and 14 against for a plus-10 differential. But Mid Isle did play two fewer games in which they were credited for 1-0 wins. The Highlanders won the first meeting between the two teams 2-1.
