After brief blip, Galajda back to his old self for Grizzlies

A goaltender’s greatest asset isn’t always a quick glove hand or the ability to get across his crease at lightning speed or even read plays, for that matter.

Sometimes, it’s simply a short memory that makes a difference between success and failure.

Matthew Galajda displayed that to perfection on Saturday night, rebounding from a dreadful start — five goals on 15 shots — in a 7-3 loss to the Chilliwack Chiefs on Friday to recording his third shutout of the playoffs in a 2-0 victory the very next evening in which he stopped all 39 shots.

“They got five goals and that’s life,” Galajda said bluntly of the scenario he faced. “We’re playing the next day anyway and whatever happens, happens. After each goal you have to reset your mind.

“After the fifth, it wasn’t my day, I guess, but you have to get ready to play the next game because that’s big, too. You just try to forget about it and move on.”

It’s the only attitude a goalie can have each and every night he stands his ground between the pipes.

“For sure, you can’t be thinking about those things the whole night. You have to forget about it and try and stop the next puck, that’s what I have been trying to do throughout these entire playoffs,” said Galajda, who is set to join Cornell University next season.

He’s done it remarkably well, leading the B.C. Hockey League in save percentage at .939 and the three shutouts. His 2.02 goalsagainst average is second best.

Galajda also has his Grizzlies tied 1-1 in the best-of-seven semifinal with Games 3 and 4 set for tonight and Wednesday at 7 p.m. at The Q Centre.

“You always have to be on your game. You can’t take a shift off,” he said of playing the position. “I’m sure it affects some people if they do have one, but for goalies, a bad goal can just kill them because it gets in their head, thinking about what they could have done better. There’s time to do that after the game, during the game you have to move on.”

And he did so quickly in Game 1, actually pulling himself from the game after discussing it with GM and head coach Craig Didmon after the first period in which Victoria trailed 4-1, thanks to a late Grizzlies goal.

“It wasn’t my night. The team needed a rebound. I talked to Craig at the first intermission and I said one more and we should give Tony [Rehm, the backup] a chance because it’s not going our way tonight,” said Galajda, a native of Aurora, Ont.

“I wanted to keep battling after we scored that one goal, but they scored really quickly in the second, a back-door goal and it just wasn’t my day. Tony had a great second half of the game and it was good that Tony saw his first playoff action.”

Galajda will be back between the pipes trying to better Mark Sinclair at the other end of the rink. He hopes to be doing it in front of another large crowd after the Grizzlies drew 1,705 in Game 7 of the previous series.

“I’m hoping we can now win these next two at The Q for our fans. That would be huge for them,” said Galajda. “We’ve had great success at home. The last game was a huge boost with the big crowd. The team took advantage of that and we loved playing before everybody there.”

Nanaimo United busted the brackets to capture its first Jackson Cup championship since 1999.

The fourth seeds upended topseed Cowichan FC 2-1 in extra time Sunday at Royal Athletic Park in the 102nd Jackson Cup final for Vancouver Island Soccer League knockout supremacy.

Niko Cristante fired the winning goal for Nanaimo at 110 minutes as Cowichan FC was down to 10 men at 75 minutes because of two yellow cards. Regulation time ended deadlocked 1-1 on goals at 14 minutes by Nanaimo’s Darragh Fitzgerald, on a header, and Cowichan’s dramatic late equalizer through Joel Harry at 90 minutes.

Cowichan FC was making its seventh Jackson Cup championship game appearance in the past eight years and was after its fifth Cup title in that span.

Cowichan FC, Nanaimo United, Vic West and Bays United are the VISL representatives into the upcoming Province Cup playdowns.

Meanwhile, the Cowichan 49ers beat Vic West 2-1 in extra time Sunday at Royal Athletic in the Tony Grover Cup masters final.

Mid-Isle teams won both the VISL George Smith Cup U-21 title with a 6-1 victory Saturday over Juan de Fuca and the VISL Div. 4-5 George Pearkes Cup with a 1-0 win over Gorge United.

For the first time in VISL history, the Jackson, Grover, Smith and Pearkes cups were swept by teams from north of the Malahat.

In the Terry Price Cup Lower Island Women’s Soccer final Sunday, Prospect Lake blanked Victoria Athletic Association 1-0 at Tyndall Park.