Goal-scoring hasn’t been a concern for Cowichan United so far in the U21 soccer season, but team defence has been more of an issue.
Coach Tyler Hughes made sure to concentrate on that aspect last week, and it paid off in a 4-1 victory over Bays United on Sunday afternoon.
“We worked a lot the week before on our defensive shape as a team,” Hughes related. “We hadn’t worked on defensive shape at all, so we started to focus on it and the results were much better. The players felt good structure and felt comfortable with what they were doing.”
Hughes prefers to worry about how his team is playing rather than results, but he was happy with both on Sunday.
“We deserved the victory,” he said. “The boys played really well.”
Michael Fusick, Logan Kits, Callum Branch and Brennan Shaver did the scoring for Cowichan, and Kits was named Game MVP. Goalkeeper Braeden Nash was one well-placed free kick away from a shutout.
“We had full control of the game,” Hughes commented. “As soon as we went up 2-1, the rest seemed to follow pretty quickly.”
Cowichan’s 10 goals this season are the second-most in the league, but no single player has scored more than two.
“We don’t have one guy who has scored all our goals,” Hughes said. “It’s moved around nicely, which is good. We have good attacking players with good speed, which makes for healthy competition for playing time. They have to work hard and come to training and compete for time. It pushes everyone.”
The week before they beat Bays, Cowichan lost 4-2 on the road against Prospect Lake despite a strong showing by Nash, who earned Game MVP honours. Branch and Miles Boulton did the scoring.
The first-year team’s record now stands at two wins, two losses and one draw.
“I tell the guys I’m not concerned with the results,” Hughes said. “Performances are what I’m focused on. I’m happy with the progess. We’re probably where I would have expected us to be.”
This week, United will be away to Lakehill, the last team they have to play in the first portion of the season. Hughes doesn’t know much about Lakehill, but he’s not worried about it.
“All the games so far have been good, tough games,” he said. “We’ll focus on what we do and see how it goes.”