Pacific Coast Soccer League

The Vancouver Thunderbirds advanced to the semi final round of the provincial cup on Sunday by the narrowest of margins after a 93rd minute goal forced overtime and eventually a penalty shootout victory.

Langley got on the scoreboard at the 15 minute mark when Mark Peters headed home a loose ball after a long throw in. From that point onwards the Thunderbirds dictated much of the pace of the game and sent waves of attack forward at the Langley goal only to encounter some solid goalkeeping, poor finishing, posts and ill fated goal mouth scrambles.

Langley defended with determination and it appeared as though it would be one of those games where a team does pretty much everything but score, until in the final minute of added on time when Jason Gill re-directed a shot from a corner kick into the roof of the Langley goal to level the score and force overtime. Vancouver continued to force the game in overtime with Langley content to counterattack, but no goals came for either team.

While the Vancouver team was stymied and unable to score through the course of the game, they were clinical with their penalties scoring all five.

Langley scored on their first three attempts, but Thunderbird goalkeeper Elliott Usher made a terrific diving save to his right off Jake Jorgensen, the fourth shooter for Langley. That set the stage for Conor Cregg-Guinan to bury the deciding penalty and a 5-3 shootout victory.

The Thunderbirds will now face Victoria’s Gorge FC in the semi final next weekend. Vancouver’s Sporting Club will face Peace Arch in the other semi final and both games are set to be played in Victoria.

Three of the four clubs that are through to the semis are either PCSL clubs or have PCSL connections, Vancouver Thunderbirds, Peace Arch United and Gorge FC who form the core of Victoria United in the PCSL.