Men’s soccer saw a heated battle July 20 in Ponoka, where the hosts Storm FC faced strong rivals Diablos FC of Wetaskiwin and narrowly defeated the visitors with a score of 4-3.
While the win was positive for the team, head coach Rich Evans wants to see stronger offence from his players.
He says Ponoka played a strong first half and were ahead 3-1 at the end of it. Despite the lead, Evans said they should have had more goals against the Diablos but players needed to take more chances against the Diablos’s goalie.
“The game would’ve been over at half time 6-1, but we let them back in the game,” he stated.
Wetaskiwin put on the pressure and were able to catch up in the second half, which put Ponoka on the defensive. The Diablos pushed Ponoka to make mistakes close to the net and at one point, a Diablos player received a yellow card for a foul on a Storm player.
Evans was pleased to see Ponoka Storm win and play a strong physical game against Wetaskiwin. He intends to work on pushing harder at the net. Evans said they had many one-on-one opportunities against the Wetaskiwin goalie.
While they may be ahead in the league, it is by a narrow margin. “We’re hanging on the top with the skin of out teeth because we’re not taking chances.”
Ponoka Storm lost their July 13 game against Camrose 2-0, their first loss of the season. They had 13 players during that game, partly due to the World Cup finals. Storm played Wetaskiwin Manluk July 16 and faced their second loss of the season with a 3-1 final score.
Ponoka has nine wins, one draw and two losses this season.