And then there were two.
Cowichan FC and Nanaimo United are the only Vancouver Island Soccer League teams still alive in the Province Cup men鈥檚 Open A playdowns, which continue today with quarter-final action.
Cowichan 鈥� coming off a 3-1 victory over Bays United in a rematch of the Jackson Cup final 鈥� will entertain Croatia FC of the Vancouver Metro Soccer League today at noon at the Sherman Road turf in Duncan. Nanaimo United, victorious in penalty kicks over Saanich Fusion last week, will travel to the mainland to tackle Pegasus at 4 p.m. at Newton Athletic Field in Surrey.
Pegasus, one of the overall favourites, defeated Comox 5-1 last week as three of five Island teams fell.
鈥淯nfortunately, four of the five teams were paired off against each other,鈥� VISL president Vince Greco said in his weekly wrap-up. 鈥淭here were some exciting games, but we ended up losing three of the five teams.
鈥淐omox was in tough, but it was a great experience for the squad 鈥� especially since it was their first entry.鈥�
Cowichan, which benefited from goals from Cooper Barry, Keevan Webb and Joshua Cuthbert after falling behind 1-0 on Jack Hill鈥檚 effort for Bays United, will now attempt to extend its strong season into semifinals.
鈥淲e鈥檝e never played them before,鈥� Cowichan coach Glen Martin said of Croatia FC. 鈥淚 know they won provincials two years ago so they will be a good, fast, young team. It sounds like they鈥檙e very offensive. They are all going to be tough games from here on in.
鈥淭here are a few more elite teams in Vancouver this year. I鈥檝e noticed it鈥檚 very bunched up at the top with the likes of Metro Ford, Surrey Firefighters and Pegasus.鈥�
Cowichan is at home, however, so carries that advantage.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to have to get up early and have a Sunshine breakfast on the ferry. Last year we had to play Abbotsford and it didn鈥檛 seem to bother them, they were pretty tough,鈥� added Martin.
The Province Cup finals weekend is slated for May 14-15 at Westhills and Goudy Stadiums in Langford, which also plays into Cowichan鈥檚 hands should they get there.
And the Duncan-based side is also relatively healthy.
鈥淭he key guy missing is our captain Jesse Winter, who broke his foot in the [Jackson Cup] semifinal win against Saanich Fusion. He knew something was wrong with 20 minutes to go, but he scored the winning goal for us with a broken foot,鈥� said Martin. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a real inspirational guy for us. He鈥檚 the captain for a reason.鈥�
They did replace him with Webb from the UVic Vikes.
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