Victoria Highlanders head coach Dave Dew called it an 鈥渦nfortunately weird bounce鈥� that occurred at 37 minutes Sunday afternoon at Centennial Stadium.
It gave Seattle Sounders U-23 a 1-0 victory and may just have bounced the Highlanders out of the playoff race in the United Soccer League Premier Development League鈥檚 Northwest Division.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of those things,鈥� said Dew, of the ricochet goal.
The always-lurking Highlanders midfielder/striker Cam Hundal came close to tying the game in the second half but was denied by a splendid save in the Sounders crease.
鈥淲e gave it to them in spells in the second half but couldn鈥檛 find the equalizer,鈥� said Dew.
Sounders U-23, which defeated Victoria 2-0 last month in Seattle, swept the season series.
Northwest Division-leading Sounders U-23 have sent 45 players on to professional soccer, including Sunderland defender (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur) and 2014 U.S. World Cup player DeAndre Yedlin and current Sounders MLS midfielder Aaron Kovar. Sounders U-23 moved to (8-4) while Victoria fell to (3-5-4). Only the top two teams are guaranteed to make the playoffs in the Northwest Division, with a potential third, depending on results in other divisions within the Western Conference.
Sounders U-23 leads with 24 points, while Calgary Foothills FC has 21 with a game in hand. The Highlanders, Washington Crossfire from Redmond and Lane United from Eugene, Oregon, are all on 13 points but Lane has two games in hand and Crossfire one in hand on Victoria.
鈥淩ight now, it is looking very difficult,鈥� admitted Dew.
鈥淏ut we want to finish as high as we can in the standings, in our return to the PDL [after dropping out of the league for 2015], to springboard us into next season.鈥�
Kitsap Pumas and Portland Timbers U-23 are at the bottom of the table with 10 and nine points, respectively.
The Highlanders close out the regular season with home games at Centennial Stadium next Monday night against Lane United and July 17 against Timbers U-23.
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