The Sooke Celtic div-1 men’s soccer team suffered just their second loss of the season on Friday night losing 4-2 to Gordon Head Applebee’s Grill and Bar.
Playing at Tyndall Field in Victoria, the Celtic struck first with a goal that player manager Steven Scott said didn’t think was “humanly possible.”
Mike Moon wound up and kicked the ball towards the Gordon Head goal from centre field that sailed over the head of their goalie, who was caught out of position, and into the opposing net.
“It was really funny, the wind was coming one way and he scored against the wind,” said Scott.
The bizarre early goal deflated the Applebee’s game momentarily, but they quickly answered back with a goal by a player who cut down the wing side beating out a couple of Celtic defenders. Moments later, they scored another putting the ball off the back post past goalie Blake Ridley making it 2-1 for the home team.
Before the half ended, Daniel Bergerud tied it up after he chipped in a shot over the Gordon Head goalie from a pass by Cam Fischer.
After the break, it was all Applebee’s. Div-1 leading scorer Patrick Nelson capitalized on a defensive mixup by the Celtic. Scott asked a player to head the ball back to Ridley who misread the play and came out of net. Nelson intercepted the ball and put it away making it 3-1.
The nail in the coffin was punctuated again by Nelson who flew down the wing with a shot that banked in off the high far post corner overtop of Ridley. That would be it for the Celtic’s eighth game of the season placing them in fifth place out of 10 teams in the league.
With another 10 games left in the season, Scott said his team isn’t worried about finishing in at least the fourth spot that they need to make it into the provincial championships. Things are looking up considering they have only allowed nine goals against so far, and the defence has been shored up with the recent return of Pete McKay who had played with the Vancouver Island University Mariners the last few months.
“We definitely have lots of room and lots of time,” said Scott.
The Celtic are away in Nanaimo for a game next Saturday, and they aren’t scheduled to play on home soil until the new year. If it seems like it’s been awhile since they’ve played at The Log, it’s because it has — the last three home games, the grass field at Fred Milne has either been flooded or frozen rendering it unplayable. The missing games have been rescheduled to a later date and the team has been practicing in gyms and the turf field at Eagle Ridge when they have been able to rent it.
“It’s pretty normal,” he said.