Venturing down to Ventura, Calif., proved to be as enjoyable for the Victoria Highlanders as it was for the band America, who hit the charts with the song by the similar name with the easy, laid-back tune that the group cashed in on back in 1972.
鈥淰entura highway in the sunshine; where the days are longer, the nights are stronger than moonshine. You鈥檙e gonna go, I know,鈥� Dewey Bunnell sang with effortless passion back in the day.
The Highlanders arrived, all right, and stormed off with a 3-2 extra-time win over the host Ventura County Fusion in the Final 4 Western Conference championship of the USL Premier Development League.
The victory propels the Highlanders into today鈥檚 final at 5 p.m. against either the Fresno Fuego or Portland Timbers U-23 team, who were playing in the late semifinal, which was unavailable by press time. The two winners will kick it off today for the Western Conference title and a trip to the PDL championship tournament, Aug. 2-4, which Victoria is hoping to bid on.
The Fusion opened the scoring early as Kennedy Chongo struck just six minutes in. Brett Levis was then brought down inside the Ventura penalty box and Riley O鈥橬eill calmly stepped up and delivered in the 21st minute.
Chongo set up the go-ahead goal just before the halftime break as he drove down the wing and crossed the ball to John Lopez who made it 2-1 Ventura.
Levis, who has had an outstanding first year with the Highlanders, equalled again in the 60th minute on a well-place strike from 25 yards out. He then added his second in the 96th minute after the teams went to extra time.
鈥淚 thought he was a little nervous early on, coming out a little hesitantly,鈥� Highlanders coach Steve Simonson said of Levis. 鈥淗e came through very well, as did the team. [Levis] had a stunning goal. He ripped his first one past the keeper.
鈥淚t was a great effort from the guys, who battled through adversity. Our fans would have been proud of us if they could have been here.鈥�
The Highlanders were coming off a two-week layoff, but battled back on the Fusion 鈥� PDL champs in 2009 and Southwest Division victors in 2012.
Meanwhile, six goals should surely be enough to win any soccer game, let alone a championship semifinal in which defence is a must.
But the Peninsula Co-op Highlanders let a 6-4 lead slip away in extra time to lose 7-6 (4-3) in a shootout to the Kamloops Heat in the Pacific Coast League Challenge Cup semifinal in Coquitlam late Saturday afternoon.
Having battled back all day, the Premier Division women鈥檚 club let it slip through their fingers after securing he two-goal advantage in the extra time, allowing the tying two against in the final minutes.
鈥淲e鈥檙e so young, we succumbed to the pressure a bit,鈥� said Highlanders head coach Dave Dew, who was four minutes away from paydirt when the Heat struck twice to force kicks. 鈥淵ou would think we would be able to hang on, but defensively we weren鈥檛 as good as we鈥檇 been all year.鈥�
No even close, really, as the Peninsula Co-op team had given up just 15 goals in 16 games, then six in the semifinal.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a little disappointing, but our average age was 21, with a lot of first-year and second-year university kids, sprinkled in with the odd third-year and some high school kids,鈥� said Dew.
Knotted 2-2 after regulation and down 3-2 and 4-3 in the first extra time, Liz Hansen and Jaclyn Sawicki each scored twice to give the favourite Highlanders the 6-4 lead.
It simply got away from them late and into the penalty kicks.
Hansen and Kristen Livingstone had scored in regulation time for the Victoria side, which at 13-1-2 in the regular season, expected much more than an upsetting loss to the 5-3-8 Heat at Mobilio field at Coquitlam Town Centre.
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