The Highlanders play the Crossfire in crucial back-to-back USL Premier Development League home games tonight at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at Centennial Stadium that will go a long way toward deciding the Highlanders’ post-season fate in the Northwest Division.
Fifth-place Victoria is 2-4-3 for nine points, and is four points adrift of the third and final playoff berth in the Northwest Division, currently held by Lane United of Eugene, Oregon (13 points). The fourth-place Crossfire (3-3-3 for 12 points) also have Lane United as a target.
Calgary Foothills FC leads the Northwest Division with 19 points followed by Seattle Sounders U-23 on 18 points. At the foot of the table are Portland Timbers U-23 with six points and the Kitsap Pumas with five.
The Highlanders are on a two-game losing streak, including a 2-0 defeat last weekend to the Crossfire in Redmond.
“This weekend is a real opportunity for us to jump right back into playoff contention,” said Dew.
“It’s vital for us to target all six points.”
Back-to-back games stress any soccer club, especially on the road.
“With a less than 24-hour turnaround between games, it’s an advantage being at home, where we can pop in players [who are not on the more-limited travel squad],” noted Dew.
The PDL allows for six players to be subbed per game, as opposed to three in international soccer, so that’s a further advantage to having a longer bench at home than the visiting team.
Dew said the Crossfire feature NCAA players of the Gonzaga, Western Washington and Seattle Pacific level. Most impressive in the 2-0 Crossfire victory over Victoria last week, said Dew, was central defender Nathan Aune from the NCAA Div. 1 Seattle University Redhawks.
“They are very well organized [with coach Jim Rilatt coming across from Timbers U-23],” added Dew.
“I thought, however, we were evenly matched despite the 2-0 scoreline in Redmond.”
Dew said Brandon Watson and Nolan Wirth, the latter a Comox Valley product with the Oregon State Beavers of the NCAA Pac-12, will share the Highlanders goalkeeping duties this weekend.
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