The Victoria Highlanders coach Dave Dew is philosophical about his club鈥檚 1-3 start to the Premier Development League soccer season and pointed to the word 鈥渄evelopment鈥� in the league鈥檚 title.
鈥淚t鈥檚 called PDL for a reason,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a development league and we are playing in younger guys who are 18 and 19. The league鈥檚 motto is Path to Pro for a reason [about 70 per cent of players drafted by the MLS since 2010 have played in the PDL]. We have to take those chances with our younger guys and can鈥檛 rely on older guys to carry the team.鈥�
But youth is not always served. In fact, it is often inconsistent.
The Highlanders dropped a 3-1 decision Sunday afternoon to the Calgary Foothills at Centennial Stadium. It was Victoria鈥檚 third consecutive loss and the second straight to the Foothills at home.
鈥淪ome of the younger players made mistakes that cost us,鈥� said Dew.
鈥淲e have to live with that and understand that it鈥檚 part of being in a U-23 league.鈥�
The Foothills went all the way to the PDL championship game last year before losing to the Michigan Bucks. They seem to have lost none of their zip and are off to a 5-1 start.
Victoria, which lost 1-0 to Calgary at Centennial Stadium on Friday night, got off to a better start Sunday with a 1-0 lead at the half before wilting in the face of a three-goal Foothills onslaught in the second half.
Francesco Bartolillo gave Victoria the first-half lead, putting home a Blair Sturrock shot off the post. But second-half goals by Bori Falaye, Kyle Jones and former Highlanders striker Chris Rushworth sealed the deal for this very good Calgary side.
鈥淚 thought we were holding our own . . . but we got caught on a couple of things,鈥� said Dew.
Victoria had its moments offensively and Dew rued the chances 鈥渢hat went begging.鈥�
鈥淲e are not finishing chances that are there,鈥� he added.
鈥淲e could have been sitting here 3-3 or up 4-3. I鈥檓 questioning our strikers. They have to start looking in the mirror.鈥�
But Dew is confident of a strong back end of the season.
鈥淲e knew going in that three of our first four games would be against the top two teams in the division [Calgary and Seattle Sounders U-23],鈥� he noted.
鈥淲e still have to play the teams at the bottom of the table. We have an opportunity, if we stay positive and stay focused, to do OK this season.鈥�
It didn鈥檛 help the Highlanders on Sunday to be missing injured standout defender Callum Montgomery, who is ranked 18th on the 2017 PDL list of its top-50 pro prospects.聽聽
The Highlanders鈥� next game is June 18 at Centennial Stadium against Portland Timbers U-23.
