Kevin Rothbauer Citizen
Fans of Cowichan LMG might want to drop by the Sherman Road soccer field on their way to Ladysmith for this Friday’s game.
There’s something of a chance that Cowichan will be taking on Vic West on the new Sherman Road turf rather than in Ladysmith. Regardless of where the game is played, it will begin at 7:30 p.m.
“It should be an exciting game,” Cowichan coach Glen Martin said. “Vic West games usually are.”
Cowichan beat Vic West 3-1 when they met at Finlayson Park on Oct. 3. Vic West led 1-0 at halftime of that game, and were the first team to score against Cowichan, in LMG’s fourth game of the season. The teams also met in the Jackson Cup semifinals last spring, won 4-2 by Cowichan at Ladysmith.
Vic West finished second behind Cowichan in Division 1 last year, but are struggling this season. They have improved of late with the addition of some UVic players, although Cowichan will have its own UVic players — Craig Gorman and Keevan Webb — on hand.
“I’m expecting a hard game,” Martin said. “You can’t go by the standings in a time when the guys from UVic are coming back. There’s a very small window of opportunity for some of the teams that get UVic players.”
LMG was supposed to play the VI Wave in Ladysmith last Saturday, but earned an easy win in the standings when the scheduled opponent bailed out at the last minute. The young team was unable to field a full squad because they had too many players at the high school provincials.
With 32 points on 10 wins, no losses and two ties, LMG has the second-best point total ever for a Cowichan senior men’s team after 12 games, trailing only the total from the 2012/13 season, when LMG started 10-0-0 and was 11-1 for 33 points after a dozen outings. That year, they finished 14-1-3 and made it to the provincial semifinals.
“We’re on track for a season like that right now,” Martin said. “We aren’t going to let up.”