The game was closer than the 3-0 final score would make it appear, Cowichan Outlaws coach Neall Rowlings insisted, but the result was what it should have been.
“It was more like a 1-0 game,” Rowlings suggested. “But we still deserved to lose it.”
A difficult stretch has caught up to the Outlaws, who dropped their second straight game — at home against the SFFC Cascades — to fall to 2-3 on the season and into seventh place in the Lower Island Women’s Soccer Association’s Division 2.
“I don’t really have any excuses,” Rowlings said. “Our attendance at practice is eroding, and therefore we aren’t fighting out of the losses. We have had a lot of injuries and we are probably missing four players to make a strong go at Division 1.”
The entire Cowichan Valley Soccer Association is struggling with numbers and injuries right now, so it isn’t easy to call players up from the youth ranks. Fortunately, Stacey de Lusignan suited up for the Outlaws immediately after playing a match with the Over 30 Cowichan Cougars that same morning.
The Outlaws will visit a Nanaimo team stacked with Vancouver Island University players this Saturday in another tough test.
“Really wishing Colleen George was back in the lineup,” Rowlings said. “She has been injured since prior to game one, and she has the confidence and skill to assist this squad. All-in-all, we are a lot better than last year and have a lot of things to work towards with lots of positivity.”
kevin.rothbauer@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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