Highlanders get in high gear early
Victoria easily wins USL PDL opener
Victoria Highlanders coach Dave Dew said he remembers what former Manchester United player and Vic West coach Bob English used to tell his charges before games: “You are all good players. Somebody do something bright.”
That is exactly what Andrew Ofosu, Eva Batousol, Callum Montgomery, Owen Pearce, Blair Sturrock and Sho Goto did Sunday afternoon at Centennial Stadium as brightness was all around in a 4-1 Highlanders victory over Lane United of Eugene, Oregon, to open the 2017 USL Premier Development League soccer season.
Returning 2016 Highlanders team MVP Montgomery of Nanaimo, a St. Michaels University School graduate, showed why he is a standout with NCAA Div. 1 top-16 University of Carolina-Charlotte by deftly curling a free kick around the Lane United wall and goalkeeper Ben Willis for the opening goal of the season at just seven minutes. That was some 20th birthday present Montgomery gave to himself.
Pearce, two minutes later, and then Ofosu also scored in the first half for Victoria.
Striker Ofosu and midfielder Batousol had just arrived from England on Friday and immediately showed why both came highly recommended by Jamie Hadfield of the Sheffield Wednesday Academy and former Highlanders player Max Wragg, now a Sheffield Wednesday youth coach.
“Both the English players brought a huge presence to the team,” said Dew.
“They had no practices with the team and were just thrown in. Their legs struggled a bit with jet lag but good players can play.”
Dew replaced Ofosu at 63 minutes with veteran Highlanders striker Blair Sturrock, the former Plymouth Argyle and Swindon Town pro, who took a loft pass from Sho Goto to score Victoria’s fourth goal in the second half.
“It shows what we have this season when you can put in a sub with the quality of Blair Sturrock,” said Dew.
The Highlanders’ bench boss also pointed to the assist by defender Sho Goto, the 28-year-old former J-League 2 and Latvian league pro, who is studying English at UVic.
“Sho Goto had a quiet yet impressive game. He’s on a different level. That set-up to Blair Sturrock showed it,” said Dew.
Sho Goto also just missed recording a fifth goal for Victoria when his piercing shot from 30 metres was only barely parried by the stretching Lane United goalkeeper Willis.
Toronto-native Pearce, an NCAA Division 1 sophomore at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, showed Sunday why he was in the Toronto FC Academy and formerly in the Canadian U-17 and U-20 player pools.
Reynolds Secondary graduate Simon Norgrove, who plays in U Sports for the University of Guelph, recorded the victory in goal for the Highlanders.
Isma Fernandez scored for Lane United (0-1-1), a team stocked with young players from Spain and NCAA Div. 1 Gonzaga, Portland and Creighton.
The PDL is considered the best amateur developmental soccer league in North America, with nearly 70 per cent of MLS draft picks since 2010 having PDL experience.
The Highlanders next game, also at Centennial Stadium, is May 26 against Seattle Sounders U-23.