Having already clinched their fifth straight Garrison Cup as Vancouver Island Soccer League Div. 1 champions, Cowichan LMG had one last league game left to play, and wrapped up the season tidily with a 2-1 win over Gorge FC.
The victory closed what head coach Glen Martin called an “outstanding season” that saw Cowichan accrue 43 points (13 wins, one loss and four draws), seven more than runner-up Westcastle. The total fell short of the club record of 46 points, set last year, but this year’s team actually had one less loss that last year’s.
“I’m really proud of this team this year,” Martin said. “It’s a really good group of guys. They work hard. They’re committed. It’s not a big group, but they hang out together after games and after practices. They’re enjoying soccer this year, and not because we’re winning, because of the group of players we have. They play hard, they play smart, they play for each other.”
Even though they are still getting ready for the provincial tournament, players are already talking about next year, Martin noted.
The provincial draw will be held on April 1. As a seeded team, Cowichan will play their opening game at home, probably on April 13.
Gorge opened the scoring in last Friday’s game, taking advantage of a Cowichan defensive breakdown around the 20-minute mark, and it was 1-0 at halftime.
“We weren’t playing great,” Martin said. “We were playing OK.”
Andrew Forster entered the game at the break for his first meaningful minutes with Cowichan, and ended up scoring the go-ahead goal at 67 minutes, six minutes after Joel Harry scored to make it 1-1.
Forster, who has been training with the team all season but hasn’t been able to play much, gives LMG another weapon as they head into provincial play when call-ups from the U21 ranks are not permitted.
Prior to the provincial tournament, the VISL will hold its annual awards night on April 5, with multiple Cowichan players in contention. Darian Achurch should be in consideration for Goalie of the Year after leading the league in wins, goals-against average and shutouts, and Craig Gorman is Martin’s nominee for MVP. Gorman returned to the club midseason and played 11 games, scoring nine goals, including six game-winners. The team didn’t lose a game with him in the lineup, collecting 10 wins and one tie.