Mount Pearl moves to 2nd

Taedy O'Rourke

Mount Pearl moves to 2nd 

Taedy O'Rourke may not be the most skillful or technical player in the Molson Challenge Cup League but he has made a career on old fashion hard work. Wednesday's evening Taedy scored what very strangely could be the most important goal of the season for him. To-date, it has been the only goal O'Rourke has scored. Both teams battled hard throughout the game. Each team had their moments and seemed to be in complete control. There were times, the young guns, had Mount Pearl on the ropes and it appeared as if they were ready for the taken. However, Mount Pearl who had strong performances from Matt Hamyln and Mark Reddy would,  with a counter-punch style, try and deliver the ball to Ryan Caines /Justin Pickford or Tyler Forsey.  Scotty Woodfine,  who has had a very strong first season with Mount Pearl after coming over to the Gold and Black from the Holy Cross team also had a descent game. But after Mount Pearl survived the 2nd half possessional clinic demonstrated by the Games team it was Tyler Forsey who would set up O'Rourke for his goal. Taedy literally threw himself to the ground and the ball was forced into the net, definitely nothing clinical about his goal.  This all important goal provided Mount Pearl all they would need in their 1-0 win  but more importantly in moved Mount Pearl into 2nd place. Mount Pearl and the 3rd place Laurentians  both have four games remaining on the regular season.

The Games Team

With this being the final exhibition match in the Challenge Cup League for the Games Team I would have to say they simply had an outstanding 2016 season. The fact is they competed and showed improvement while they were being taught how to play the game. Above all they wore the NLSA colors with pride and respect. There is no doubt you will see even more development and improvement to this team in 2017 when the club takes on a full schedule. Personally I would like to thank their coaches  Andrew Murphy, Shane Dunphy, John Douglas and manager Gonzo Bennett on a job well done.     

Challenge Cup - Weekend Wrap-up

Tyler Forsey

 ----------------------------------------

Mount Pearl Closes the Gap

Mount  Pick picked up four points in two games over the past weekend with a tie and a victory. Their tie 3-3  came against Feildians on Saturday, very well  could have been a victory  if it were not for the Feildians tying controversial goal when  all players had stopped because there was an injured player. Remember guys, you have to play the whistle .... this is some thing which is taught to all soccer players at an early age. The referee made the right call, the goal stood and as a result Mount Pearl received one point not the three which they appeared to have in the bag.

On Sunday Mount Pearl may have played their best match of the season.  They were up against Corner Brook who had defeated CBS on Saturday in a very convincing style. Mount Pearl played the field very well and Corner Brook challenged . But it was the finish work, which was demonstrated by Tyler Forsey, who made the difference in Mount Pearl's 5-0 win. Forsey would score four brilliant goals this afternoon and this combined with his goal on Saturday against Fieldians, tied him for the leagues goal-scoring race.It also totally convinced me no matter the team , no matter the league- be it minor, senior men's or university, Tyler Forsey is fast becoming one of Newfoundland's all time great soccer scorers.  

===================

HC v SL series.

 Was there a real winner ? 

Unfortunately, this was the series I would have liked to take in but circumstances didn't permit me to travel to the Boot and not only take in the Holy Cross/ St. Lawrence series but to take in the St. Lawrence Day Festivities on Saturday. However I did follow the series very closely and it's the outcome which I will make my judgement on. After both teams played 90 minutes on Saturday and the score was tied 1-1 with Cross scoring early and the Laurentians scoring late , very little difference there. Then when both teams went at it on again on Sunday, with less than a 24 hr break in between matches, the long time arch rivals battled to a scoreless tie. These scores proves beyond a reasonable doubt that there is very little difference between the two clubs.  Yes, I was told,  the Laurentians played great and deserved the tie on Saturday and should have won on Sunday.  I was also told it was Holy Cross's keeper Pieroway, who made the difference on Sunday with three outstanding saves. However  this was told to me from my die - hard Laurentian friends. What I do realize myself, is that these two ties between St. Lawrence & Holy Cross are great moral victories for both the St. lawrence team and their Laurentian fans. The players and the fans now realize that their team can play with the provinces best team. This is something that Laurentian teams and fans really couldn't say for the past eight years. The fact is, Holy Cross has won seven out of eight last provincial championships and they have done over this course of time in fine fashion but somehow things seem to be a little different in 2016. Closing out my "far away analysis" of this series , I must agree with the Laurentian fans that their team is back as a legitimate contender in 2016 and the play-offs on Labor Day, which are being hosted by the BPSA in St. Lawrence,  should be simply outstanding.  

 

SOCCER SUNDAY - AUGUST 7/2016

GAMES

Mount Pearl : 5 vs Corner Brook :0

=====
Holy Cross :0 at St. Lawrence  :0

====================== 

SOCCER SATURDAY RESULTS : JULY 6/16

RESULTS 
=============

St. Lawrence : 1 vs Holy Cross : 1 

Mount Pearl : 3 vs Feildians : 3 

Corner Brook : 3 vs CBS : 1

Happy St. Lawrence Day to all Laurentians Home & Away

ZACK WADE : Molson Challenge Cup Player of the Month

 Zack Wade

Molson Challenge Cup Player of the Month for July 

is Zack Wade of Holy Cross .

During the month of July, Zack Wade clearly demonstrated he is one of the most dominating mid-fielder in the province. His team, Holy Cross,  went undefeated in eight games in July and are currently in 1st place in the league. Zack has proven not only is he a dominate defensive mid-fielder, he is the top offensive mid-fielder in the province, having scored 9 goals thus far this season, with four of those goals being scored in July.

Soccer Saturday - July 6 - 2016

 St. Lawrence Laurentians - 1967 

 1st NLSA Challenge Cup 

Champions 

-----------------------------------------

SOCCER SATURDAY 

=====

At 3 : Holy Cross at St. Lawrence

  

=====

At 4 : Feildians at Mount Pearl

 =====
 At 6 : Corner Brook at CBS

Challenge Cup Stats

STANDINGS:

Holy Cross : 43

St. Lawrence : 32

Feildians: 32

Mount Pearl : 29

Corner Brook : 6

CBS : 3

-----------------------------------

Top Goalscorers 

 Stefan Slaney : 17

 Tyler Forsey : 12

Zach Hynes : 9

 Zack Wade : 9

Fellows From Fortune

Fellows From Fortune 

What to have a bit of fun at the soccer game ? Well, all you got to do is join up with the Fellows From Fortune. Here we see the Fellow From Fortune, Patty Parsons,  informing former Grand Bank Gee Bee, Jack Cumben ( far left) how it's done. The Fortune boys are huge soccer fans. Being from the Booth, the group takes in a lot of the St. Lawrence Laurentian matches.  Also, you will see them regularly in St. Lawrence and on occasion at KGV  and in Mount Pearl.  They are also regular fans at the National Challenge Cup.  Good bunch of fellows !

St. Lawrence U-18's Capture Provincial Championship

St. Lawrence Under 18's - 2016

TJ Ebbeling, Josh Parrott, Parker Doyle, Michael Pittman, Shawn Issacs, Brent Hennebury, K.Patten

Kyle Walsh, Joel Olford, Chris Tobin, Michael Hynes, R. Dunphy, Logan Hennebury, C. Henderson

Coaches: Shane Dunphy / Marc Pittman
  
================= 
  2016

  
ALL - NL UNDER-18 MEGA
  
CHAMPIONS 
===========================

Game 1. St. Lawrence: 5 vs Grand Falls: 0

Game 2. St. Lawrence: 1 vs Clarenville : 0

 Game 3. St. Lawrence : 5 vs Sprindale : 0

========================

Championship Game 

St. Lawrence : 4 vs Clarenville : 0

Soccer Sunday -- July 31 - 2016

Holy Cross :2 vs St. Lawrence : 1

Steve Delong and Jake Warren

 Holy Cross are back

It all started last Wednesday evening when Holy Cross bombed the NL Games team 9 -1. Then on Saturday destroyed the Feildians  5-0 . While on Sunday  Holy Cross were up against the 2nd place  Laurentians who had battled Holy Cross in a superb match  in the earlier part of the season. 

The Laurentians had been defeated on Saturday by Mount Pearl 2-0. It appeared as if the Laurentians. on Saturday had their focus on the Sunday afternoon matinee where they were scheduled to go up against Holy Cross. To all Laurentian players and fans a St. Lawrence / Holy Cross match-up is something special. While the Laurentians have shown some improvement  in 2016 so have Mount Pearl and Feildians. However, neither one of those three clubs have been consistently improved... their performances vary from game to game.  Although, Holy Cross's defense are suspect this season and have been very porous at times, their team are still the class of the league and the team to beat in 2016. Holy Cross again proved this on Sunday. Cross lead by star players Zack Wade, Jake Warren and Steve Delong defeated Laurentians  2 -1. Holy Cross controlled the vast majority of the play with both Warren and Delong pretty well having their way constantly defeating the Laurentians defense on the outside. The Laurentians continue to struggle using the one striker attack. Stefan Slaney, who is having a career scoring year, did score the lone goal for the Laurentians but overall he was very easily kept at bay by the Holy Cross defenders. Next weekend could be the tell the tale when Holy Cross travel to the Booth and take on the Laurentians in a double header. Saturday's game will be played on St. Lawrence Day at 3 PM and Sunday's game is scheduled for 1PM.  

Soccer Saturday - July 30 , 2016

Big weekend of soccer action on the Avalon as the top four all go to work. Mathematically, everything is still on the line from 1st to 4th. And above is all teams are looking for the edge. They are looking to send a message to the other club. It also could be a good test for some new officials that the league are using this summer. Any way you look at it, it's going to be one heck of a week-end.   

Holy Cross : 5  vs Feildians : 0
 

Jake Warren

Mike Dunn : 1'
Steve Delong : 4'
Jake Warren (2) : 13', 78 '
Zack Wade : 29'

Shutout : Thomas Pieroway 

============

Mount Pearl : 2 vs St. Lawrence : 0

Game Summary 

Justin Pickford : 46'
Tyler Forsey : 82'

Shutout : Nick Power

 =============

Holy Cross blast the Games Team

 Zack Wade - Conor Simmons

Kyle Williams

---------------------------------------------

 Holy Cross blasts the Games Team

Holy Cross turned on the jets Wednesday evening at KGV as they blast NLSA Canada Games team 9 -1. The Games team looked rather sharp for the first ten minutes. At the 8 minute mark Jacob Grant broke through Holy Cross's defense and when their keeper, Thomas Pieroway got caught in no man's land, Grant coolly put the ball in Cross's net. After this early goal, it was all Holy Cross. Kyle Williams, who has struggled on the score-sheet in 2016,  scored a pair after after working extremely hard throughout the contest while earning six glorious quality scoring opportunities. Meanwhile, all-star Zack Wade who was celebrating his 28 birthday did it in fine style. Zack who is the league highest scoring  midfielder picked up his 7th and 8th goals of the season. Again, Zack dominated the entire mid-field. Young Connor Simmons, who continues to develop and impress,  also scored a pair. While, singles came from veterans Jon Hawco and Steve Delong.  Mike Dunn completed the scoring  for Holy Cross, scoring his 1st of the season, coming off a beautiful  header.