The play of Ole Mackay was a microcosm of the rest of Cowichan United’s performance in a 1-1 tie with Castaways on Sunday afternoon.
The team got off to a slow start in the U21 soccer match at Finlayson turf, but recovered in the second half to salvage a 1-1 draw on a goal by Mackay.
“He was one of the ones in the first half who maybe didn’t play with as much urgency as he needed to,” Cowichan head coach Tyler Hughes said. “In the second half, he lifted the team by his example. His work ethic was very high in the second half.”
The slow start was a familiar, if frustrating, sight for Hughes.
“It was a similar thing to what we’ve been experiencing,” he said. “We had another slow start. It seems to take time go get the guys going.
Castaways scored about 20 minutes into the match, in what served as a wake-up call for Cowichan.
“From there, we started to slowly play our way into the game,” Hughes recalled. “One thing about this group, we’ve gone down in pretty much every game this year, but they’re a resilient bunch and it seems to galvanize them more than anything.”
The team had a chat at halftime about fixing their approach to the game, and it paid off.
“The work rate and determination were more along the lines of what we have come to expect from this group,” Hughes said. “It was a much better performance. We could have scored more than the one goal.”
Mackay scored that goal with a header on a cross from Igor Liah.
“It was a good goal,” Hughes stated. “He deserved it.”
Goalkeeper Brayden Nash saved the tie by stopping a penalty shot with about 10 minutes to go. Jeremy Stacey was named Man of the Match.
Hughes is looking for ways to get his team off to better starts as the season progresses.
“Obviously, it’s still early in the season, and we’re still finding out what kind of group we’ve got,” he said. “We’re wondering if there’s anything as coaches we can do to make them game-ready for the start as opposed to 45 minutes in. It’s something we’re looking at to ensure the mindset and attitude are ready to go at the first minute.
“We’ve shown that when we’re working hard, we’re one of the top teams in the league. But it is an even league, so any kind of let-off from that, and you’re down a few notches.”
Cowichan has now played all the other teams in the U21 division, and the team sits fourth with one win, three ties and one loss. Next up is another road game against the Prospect Lake Lakers at Layritz turf on Sunday at 4 p.m. Prospect sits second in the league with 10 points in five games, including a 4-2 win over Cowichan at the Sherman Road turf on Sept. 16.
“Hopefully the boys are hungry and motivated and have a bit of a chip on their shoulders,” Hughes said.