Calgary Villains FC News
After a best ever Alberta Major Soccer League finish Villains Elite F.C. came within ninety minutes of representing Alberta in the Men’s Senior Nationals.
A club record third place finish in the Major League regular season placed the Villains top team in a group with local rivals Calgary Dinosaurs
and last year's national champion Edmonton Green & Gold in the Alberta Challenge Cup.
A late goal from Kyle Yamada clinched victory against the Calgary Dinosaurs and after the same team drew with Edmonton Green & Gold a draw against
the Edmonton club would be enough to see them through to the final against Calgary Caledonians.
In a tense evenly matched contest two more goals from Yamada were enough to clinch a 2-1 victory and set-up a rematch of the 2003 final.
Playing three games in three days in near 30 degree temperatures took a toll on the team and after conceding late in the first half to go 2-1 down the task was
too much for the tired team and the Calgary Callies ran out 4-1 winners.
The young team can hold theirs heads up high as 2006 was a very successful season and after compiling a record of eleven wins and only five losses the
team wound up eclipsing the teams previous best finish to an AMSL campaign.
It was a transition year for the Villains Major League squad, as after three years under the helm of Munib Koric, the club brought in Graham Kennedy,
coach of the Calgary Foothills U-18 squad, to manage the team. Kennedy brought with him a number of promising young players and with a strong core of
returning veterans the team responded well to the change of manager.
A successful pre-season tour to Kelowna to play against Pacific Coast League outfit the Okanagan Challenge, where the team registered a 1-1 draw and a
5-0 thrashing, brought the players together and despite plenty of new faces the squad gelled quickly.
Highlights of the season included a 5-0 demolition of Calgary Dinosaurs and an impressive 5-1 rout of Edmonton Victoria.
One of the youngest teams in the AMSL, the Villains will return next year with the goal of lifting the Challenge Cup and improving on last year's impressive results.
At the conclusion of the season the majority of the team will continue to play into the late fall with universities and colleges across the country.
back
