One of the biggest games in St. Albert soccer history kicks off tonight and it should be a dandy.
The start time is 6:30 p.m. between Impact 1 and Impact 2 in the tier II provincial playdowns. The division one clash will be staged at Riel Park after it was moved from Confederation Park to accommodate the large turnout expected to witness the confrontation between the Impact rivals.
The winner advances into Sunday’s playoff to determine the second Edmonton rep at the Sept. 10 to 12 provincials. The loser will gear up for the indoor season.
“We’re pumped,” said Cohen Cassidy, the Impact 2 scoring ace. “I heard they’ve been smack-talking some of the guys but that’s OK; we’ll be ready.”
Last Saturday in the Gazette, Impact 1 player Brent Anderson said, “I’m sure there will be intensity. They will be gunning for us. We will be gunning for them too, not to injure or anything like that, but to go out there and play a hard game. We both want to go to provincials.”
Cassidy, 24, expects a battle from start to finish.
“It’s going to be a physical game,” he said. “They’re a tough team and very strong but we’re pretty good too.”
Impact 2 keeper Mike Bannard believes it will be a fair but hard-fought affair.
“Because it’s two Impact teams it will definitely add some competitive spirit to the game,” he said. “At the same time we know a lot of the guys on that team so it’s going to be a fun time.”
Bannard, 20, will be tested by the highest-scoring team in division 1B this year, as the former premier club tallied 58 goals in 14 games. Daniel Pilon was the division’s top gun with 14. Shaun Kelly ranked third with 12 and tied with seven apiece were Marcello Cimino and Andrew Moore.
“Our defence has been good as well as our goalie,” said Cassidy of the second-best defensive team in division 1A with 18 goals against in 13 games. “We’re pretty strong that way, we just haven’t been able to put the ball into the net as much as we should.”
Cassidy’s 14 goals tied Abel Asefaw of AS Roma for the division lead. Scott DeJong ranked second in team scoring with five.
“I probably should have twice as many goals. It’s been a real bad season. I had a certain number in the first three games and then I didn’t score in five and then the last few I got a goal every game for the most part,” said Cassidy, last year’s division 2A scoring leader with 20 goals in 14 games for the Impact 2 pennant winners.
Impact 2 and Sherwood Park Karpaty shared the division scoring title with 37 goals apiece going into Sunday’s season finale in the Edmonton District Soccer Association. The last match for Impact 2 before the playdowns was against AC Milan 2, but it was cancelled because the referee failed to show up at Riel Park.
Impact 2 qualified for the playdowns with a second-place 7-1-5 record.
“It’s been a pretty good season, even with all those ties. It seemed like it always happened in the last minute of injury time. We had three or four games that we were leading in injury time and they would tie it,” said Cassidy, who joined Impact 2 in 2009 after sniping a team-high 15 goals with Chester City during their run as the division one playoff cup winners in the St. Albert Men’s Soccer League.
Last year’s 11-2-1 performance in division 2A marked the second promotion in two years for Impact 2. In 2008 the team finished first in division 3A at 10-2-2 for promotion into division two.
“Our games are tighter this year. Last year we had quite a few games where we would blow teams out of the water,” said Bannard, 20, the backup keeper for the MacEwan Griffins last year in the Alberta Colleges’ Athletic Conference. “At the start of the year we had trouble holding a one or two goal lead and it came back to bite us. Otherwise, we’ve been pretty steady.”
In division 1B, Impact 1 was the runner-up for the pennant at 9-2-3 after going 9-4-1 for third place last year.
The survivor of tonight’s showdown will face the playoff loser between AS Roma (9-2-3 in division 1A) and the Ital-Canadians (12-1-1 in division 1B) on Sunday for the right to go to provincials. Kickoff is 6 p.m. at the ESA Complex.
Last year at tier III provincials, Impact 2 finish out of the medal round at 2-1.
