Bow Valley League - Week One

Wednesday June 06, 2007

Temesger Estifinos, on the Lake Louise team, heads the ball as Hiro Shinozaki, on the Pika team, tries to get the rebound while another Lake Louise player watches during their game at the Banff Rec grounds on Sunday. Pam Doyle/Canmore Leader

Pika Village and the Banff Springs both began their 2007 soccer season on the front foot, with 7-0 and 4-0 victories on Sunday at the Recreation Grounds in Banff.

In the early game the Springs came out hungry and organized against Chili’s. They were rewarded in the 17th minute when Adam Bonneau corralled a loose ball at the far edge of the 18-yard box and hit it solidly across the face of goal, where it ricocheted off two defenders and in past Chili’s keeper Mark Gaudreau.

The Springs struck again before the break when Steve Mills sprang Chili’s high offside trap and calmly stroked the ball into the back of the net on the breakaway, but after that Chili’s tightened things up and battled very hard to get back in the match.

Gaudreau played an inspired game in goal, turning aside a half dozen shots and coming off his line well to deal with the Springs’ persistent aerial attack.

It wasn’t until the 76th minute that the Springs finally put things out of reach on a goal by Blair Cowan, and it was Cowan’s physical presence up front that gave Chili’s the most trouble.

In the afternoon game Lake Louise got an eye-opening lesson on what it takes to play in a competitive league when they absorbed a 7-0 battering from Pika Village, last year’s second place finishers and defending playoff champions.

Pika, as always, were tactically sound and spread the scoring evenly throughout the contest, counting in the third, 25th, 37th, 43rd, 62nd, 76th, and 85th minutes, capitalizing most often on miscues by Lake Louise.

Lake Louise, for their part, were surprisingly athletic and energetic in the contest, and were it not for the lapses in concentration that occurred too frequently, they could have given Pika a closer game.

Canmore FC got a bye in week one, and due to a scheduling error, the match between Wild Bill’s and the Rimrock was postponed. Week two kicks off on Sunday, June 10 at the Recreation Grounds in Banff. Games are at 9 and 11 a.m., and 1 p.m.