First-half woes sink Pinnacles
Giving up early goals proved costly once again for the Penticton Tim Hortons Pinnacles.
The Pinnacles surrendered two early goals, fell behind 4-1 at halftime and had their rally cut short in a 5-3 loss to the Kamloops Wolfpack in Pacific Coast Soccer League Premier Men’s Division play Saturday at Hillside Stadium.
“It’s kind of been the story of our season,” said Pinnacles assistant coach Manuel Borba. “We’ve structurally been a lot better lately but you make a mistake or two at this level and it costs you.”
The loss officially eliminated Penticton (2-7-1) from playoff contention with two games left. Kamloops (4-4-1) is three points behind Abbotsford Devils and Victoria Highlanders for one of the last two playoff spots, with the Wolfpack having a game in hand on both teams.
The Pinnacles were behind after 10 minutes off a corner kick and it was 2-0 before Christian Martins pulled one back on a nice through ball by Carter Edwards.
But two more quick goals allowed Kamloops to take a 4-1 lead into the break.
The Pinnacles had their best spell of the game on the restart. Bjorn Borren crossed a ball into the box and Charles Park knifed home a rebound to make it 4-2.
Borren was then taken down inside the box on a breakaway and James Fraser converted the spot kick against his Thompson Rivers University teammates.
But Kamloops scored on a 25yard blast with 15 minutes left to blunt the momentum and kill off the game.
Brady Van Ryswyk went the distance in goal and he too was playing against his regular university teammates at TRU.
“We’re learning lessons as a young group and we’ve just to keep building for next year,” said Borba. “We’ve got two tough games on a long road trip and we want to finish the season off well.”
Borba said a big key for the Pinnacles is to improve defensively.
“Offensively we’re creating chance, scoring goals,” he said. “But 35 goals against in 10 games is too much. The closest team to that (Mid-Isle) has given up 27.”
The Pinnacles play Mid-Isle on Saturday and Victoria on Sunday.
The Pinnacles are currently two points ahead of Mid-Isle in the battle to avoid finishing in last place in the seven-team league.