A leader on and off the pitch
Veteran Fury goalkeeper making the big saves and is ‘a great communicator’
It’s kind of disheartening to look out on the practice pitch at Algonquin College, and all you see, is a sea of shaking heads. The impetus? Goalkeeper Romuald Peiser, who’s doing to his teammates what he did to the rest of the NASL throughout the Spring Season — stopping pretty well everything kicked or headed his way.
“Hey, I’m older so I have to work extra hard in practice,” said the 35-year-old native of France with a grin.
If there was an MVP award handed out by the Ottawa Fury for spring, Peiser would be first to the podium.
The NASL player of the month for June has a five-game shutout wave (526 goalless minutes) — both are NASL records. And he had six shutouts in all while allowing just eight goals in the Fury’s 10 games.
“He’s been great for more than one reason,” offered assistant coach Martin Nash. “He’s been great vocally, here in the lockerroom and out on the pitch. He’s a great communicator on the back and keeps the team in good shape in organizing. Positionally he’s just great and comes up with the big saves when you need it.”
Peiser’s Fury get back to work Sunday (3 p.m.) at TD Place when they host Jacksonville in the opener of the Fall Season.
There are a couple of goals for this second-year club, the first being: “Playoffs,” Peiser said with a confident nod.
“That’s an easy one to answer. I really believe that. We’ve had a lot of injuries ... But I think we’ve also found something (in our game) that makes us very difficult to beat.” The other goal? Goals. The well-documented offensive woes (a bottom-feeding five goals in 10 games) kept the Fury at the bottom end of the spring table as opposed to the top.
To that end, Ottawa will have some much-required punch on Sunday.
Brazilian striker Oliver Minatel returns from injury. Last season, he led the club in scoring with seven goals in 22 games. Striker Tom Heinemann, midfielders Philippe Davies and captain Richie Ryan are expected back as well.
Ryan was donning an ice pack on his leg at practice this week, and did not participate.
He’s had a nightmarish season — a torn quad, then a torn MCL, suffered during the pre-season.
“On the mend, again,” the native of Ireland said. “I think this weekend will be too soon (to play). We want to make sure.”
When Ryan does return, they won’t quite mark the celebration with a tickertape parade down the pitch at TD Place, but undoubtedly there will be plenty of smiles and nods as he makes his NASL regular-season debut.
“The frustrating part for me is if it was just one injury and it’d be three months, you could get your head around it ... but it’s kind of one after the other.”
Ottawa also acquired 26 year-old forward Aly Alberto Hassan from the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. Hassan has scored 12 goals in the past four years.
“We picked up Aly and he’ll be able to help us,” said Nash. “We’re getting Richie and Oliver back from injury. It’s like getting three new players and hopefully that’ll lead to scoring more goals.”
Most would agree — the team will see dramatic technical improvement when Ryan climbs the hill back to full health.
“Richie is very good as a position player,” Peiser said. “He is very smart and has the ability to play the ball out of pressure. Yes, he is very important for us.”
Added Nash: “He is just so good at possession. He switches play and takes over the tempo of the game. It’s something we’ve really missed with him gone and obviously we’re looking forward to getting him back.”
As for the captain, he’ll be looking forward to that first sprint.
“We feel we have solutions within and we’ve brought solutions back,” Ryan said. “So we’re confident we’ll be able to score goals in the second half.”
After hosting Jacksonville, the Fury head to Minneapolis to tackle Minnesota United FC on July 11.
Playoff Format: The road to a post-season berth — four clubs qualify — can be a tricky one in the NASL, but here’s how it plays out.
The winners of the Fall and Spring Season(s) land the top two seeds. The team with the best overall point total, of the two, grabs seeding No. 1.
The following two teams, sporting the best points total, round out the playoff roster.
If the same team wins both seasons, the next three teams with the best overall records qualify in order (New York won the Spring Season; Ottawa was ninth, three points out of third place).
The Fury also have announced a contract extension for defender Colin Falvey that will keep him with the club through the 2016 season.
Falvey has been part of the back four that has helped Fury FC become the best defensive team in the NASL.