Crunch time for Pinnacles
The Penticton Tim Hortons Pinnacles go into the final weekend of Pacific Coast Soccer League Premier Men’s Division regular season play with their playoff lives on the line.
The Pinnacles play Khalsa Sporting Club in a pivotal game Friday at 8:30 p.m. at a neutral site in Chilliwack before a quick turnaround to play first-place Vancouver United Saturday at 2 p.m. at King’s Park.
“We beat Khalsa and we’re in,” said Pinnacles head coach Ezra Cremers. “We don’t want to bring our fate down to having to get a result against Vancouver on tired legs.”
The Pinnacles (4-6-0) lead Khalsa (3-6-2) by one point with Penticton holding the game in hand. Port Moody SC (4-7-1) actually holds the fourth and final playoff spot right now, but has already finished their schedule and would need a miracle to edge out both the Pinnacles and Khalsa.
The Pinnacles would essentially clinch a playoff spot by tying Khalsa. That would mean Penticton could afford to lose to Vancouver by as much as six goals and still qualify over Port Moody on goal difference.
The Khalsa matchup was rescheduled after smoke forced postponement of the game against the Pinnacles July 7 at King’s Park.
This past weekend, the Pinnacles split road games on Vancouver Island, beating the last-place Victoria Highlanders 2-1 on Saturday before falling 2-1 to secondplace Mid-Isle Mariners Sunday in Nanaimo.
Isaac Koch was the hero against Victoria, snapping a 1-1 tie in the 82nd minute after the Highlanders (1-7-4) tied the game in the 75th.
Dion Gouldsborough scored for the Pinnacles in the first half.
“It was a small, turf field at U-Vic and the wind was really howling,” said Cremers. “We were missing five starters and we just had to gut out a win.”
The result put the Pinnacles in position to clinch a playoff spot against Mid-Isle, but the Mariners scored twice in the first 30 minutes and held on for the win.
In the second half, Enzo Paul was chopped down in the penalty area and converted the ensuing spot kick to get Penticton within 2-1.
“We battled hard and had a few chances but the better team won on the day,” said Cremers. “We only had 14 guys and playing on back-toback days, we tired out a bit towards the end.”
Brady van Ryswyk had two strong games in goal while midfielder Noah Eaton drew praise from Cremers for his tireless efforts across two games.
Cremers said the Pinnacles will get a pair of key players – striker Ryan Glanville and Cole Kingzett – back for the weekend games.
“We’ll put a good starting 11 on the field and take our chances,” said Cremers. “Obviously we’re not looking past the Khalsa game.”
The playoffs will be held next weekend in Port Moody with the semifinals on Saturday, July 29 and the final on Sunday, July 30.
STANDINGS: Van. United 8-1-1, 25 points; Mid-Isle 7-2-2, 23 points; Van. Thunderbirds 5-3-2, 17 points; Port Moody 4-7-1, 13 points (minus-8 goal diff.); Pinnacles 4-6-0, 12 points (minus-1 goal diff); Khalsa 3-6-2, 11 points (minus 2 goal diff.); Victoria 1-7-4, 7 points.