The Howe Sound Secondary School Sounders brought the soccer ball back to 樱桃视频for their first and only home game at Brennan Park on Wednesday (Oct. 24).
But although they needed a win to clinch a playoff birth for the provincials, the lack of travel turned out to be a disadvantage in a 2-0 loss against Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Accustomed to driving to the North Shore twice a week for away games, the team didn't gear up as usual, said coach Andy King."It's like any sport-doesn't matter if it's hockey, basketball, it just happens to be soccer here-if you don't turn up mentally prepared and turn up early so you can physically prepare I mean, they turned up 20 minutes before kickoff."
The Sounders are having a successful season with six wins, three losses and two draws. They stand in fourth place in their 12 -team league."But right now you can see everyone's really disappointed," said King with a nod to his players collecting water bottles and soccer balls. "They know they should have won that game."
The team was gearing to seal a playoff spot with only one more game left in the season. If they were victorious against STA, they wouldn't have to worry about the final road match against Seycove on Monday (Oct. 29). Now they have to come through or else depend on other results, but there's a small chance they'll be ousted.
The Sounders' nomadic season has put them at a disadvantage. They are on the road 11 out of 12 season games, and it's not just crossing town before rush hour. It's the only way for them to compete with city teams, said assistant coach Eric Jones.
"This team [STA] was just nice enough to come up here to play us-they really didn't have to."
Nevertheless, coach King likes playing as road warriors.
"We still do well and we still compete," he said. "Nobody likes to play us because we're not part of the city, they don't like playing 樱桃视频because, you know what, we know we're independent from the city and we like that fact."
King knows his team well. After all, he's been coaching many of them since they were 11 years old through 樱桃视频minor soccer, moving up each year until coaching them again as the 樱桃视频U18 team. But playing as the Sounders is special, he said.
"To play for the high school is the biggest honour they can have in their youth career, and so this year they know I expect big things - which I do because I know how good they are."
