Sooke connection in United attack
Wednesday July 9, 2008
By Jim Sinclair - Sooke News Mirror
Published: July 08, 2008 5:00 PM
The profile of the Victoria United soccer program is on the rise with help from some Sooke talent and effort.
The Pacific Coast Soccer League is a going concern with squads from Vancouver, Seattle, Bellingham, Kamloops, Kelowna and Surrey competing with the Victoria crew. In the league is also a group made up exclusively of Whitecaps prospects, so it is clear this is a serious league.
Victoria won the league title last year and this year is holding down second spot behind Surrey United as the 18 game schedule draws to close in the coming weeks.
Doing Capital City duty while their Celtic squad is on hiatus are Steve Scott, Josh Jenkins and Robbie Heggelund, and they’re proving they can be effective even when the weather is nice. Scott, for example, has been on a scoring jag of late, potting four goals over the course of the past weekend on the mainland. The assertive striker enjoyed two-goal outings – in Bellingham on Saturday (4-1 win) and South Surrey (4-3 loss).
Setbacks are never easy for competitive athletes to deal with but overall there is reason for optimism among the Victoria team. So described Steve Scott in looking back on the weekend action.
“It was kind of crappy losing yesterday so there was not so much (celebration) on the way home,” he said. “But in general, we just kind of wanted to win everything this year.” The whole scoring output in the game came courtesy of Celtic players as the other was notched by Josh Jenkins – a diving header that would tie the game in the late stages setting the scene for a last minute Surrey goal to seal the win.
“The weekend was jam packed with Sooke action,” said United coach Ben Hooker on Monday, tipping his hat to the prowess of the aforementioned marksmen.
He described the Sunday game in Surrey as “one of the weirdest games I’ve ever been a part of.” The game was tied at 1-1, 2-2, and 3-3 before the last-gasp winner after Jenkins had tied it in the 88th minute. The result was “just crushing” according to Hooker.
The coach is pleased with the way things are going for the program. Fresh efforts at marketing are apparently paying dividends and the season ticket base is up around 180, a valuable core on which to rely for home support. The home games are once again being held at Royal Athletic Park – another plus for the team after having been relegated to Saanich’s Hampton Park by international competition last year.
United has games in hand over the Surrey front runners and if they can win out their schedule they’ll take first place honours into the playoff round.
Coach Hooker puts out the welcome for Sooke fans to make the trip into town for the next home game – an evening contest on July 19. Check with www.victoriaunited.com for exact starting time and ticket information.
If Scott, Jenkins and Heggelund are in the Victoria lineup there could be plenty for Sooke fans to cheer about.
Go to Vic United News Archive
