North Sound SeaWolves coach Alex Silva knew Wednesday’s soccer match at the Washington Crossfire would be a dangerous one, and it was.
Playing without two key starters and facing a revamped Crossfire team, North Sound struggled in a disappointing 4-2 loss. That makes today’s 7 p.m. road match
against the second-place Victoria Highlanders (6-4-2) almost a do-or-die situation for the expansion SeaWolves in their quest for a postseason berth.
While North Sound (4-4-4) didn’t lose any ground in the standings with the loss to Washington, it failed to pick up three huge points against a struggling team. Those points could have moved the SeaWolves into third place, one spot out of the final playoff berth in the Premier Development League’s Northwest Division.
A win today would put the SeaWolves just a point behind Victoria, but a loss would leave the Highlanders seven points in front of the SeaWolves. If Portland — tied with Vancouver for third place, a point in front of North Sound — wins both of its weekend games, the Timbers would be in strong position to join Kitsap in the playoffs.
Silva said he’s not worrying about any other team at this point. Instead, he needs to find a way to correct all that went wrong against Washington, which was a different — and better — team than the one the SeaWolves tied in their season opener. It didn’t help that North Sound was without starting goalkeeper Claudio Lazar and forward Abdu Aman, who were both out of town. Subbing for Lazar, Joseph Galbraith made six saves but it wasn’t enough.
“It was not just our keeper, it was our whole team that had a bad day,” Silva said. “Unfortunately we played that way and it cost us three important points.”
Silva said it’s possible that Lazar will return in time for tonight’s game, which would be a big boost. The Romanian-born keeper had four saves in a 2-0 home shutout of Victoria on June 11 in which Marshall Kosaka scored two goals for North Sound. Aman will not be available for the game today and will be replaced at forward by veteran Craig Tomlinson, who scored against Washington and has started at defense and midfield already this season. Silva said forward Brady Ballew may move back to midfield and the SeaWolves may focus on defense early against Victoria.
The Highlanders had won four matches in a row before losing to Vancouver 3-1 on July 1. They are led by Jamar Dixon, who has four goals. Jordie Hughes and Michael Marousek each have three goals, while Ashley Burbeary has six assists.
“We just have to put the Washington game behind us and concentrate on Victoria,” Silva said. “They will have a full stadium and it will be an environment that some of our players have not experienced before. Not letting them score (early) is going to be very important so we can adapt to the game.”
Port Vale up next
England’s Port Vale F.C. arrives in Everett on Tuesday and will spend eight days in the city before spending two more in Canada as part of its preseason Pacific Northwest tour. Port Vale plays the SeaWolves on Friday at Goddard Stadium before matches against Tacoma, Kitsap and Victoria. The club, which will stay at the Holiday Inn in downtown Everett, will practice twice a day and practices may be open to the public.
Port Vale was established in 1876 and is based in the town of Burslem, Staffordshire. It finished in 11th place in England’s Football League Two this past season, the fourth-highest level of professional soccer in the country. Its major shareholder is pop singer Robbie Williams.
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