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Semi-Final - Drillers vs. Stockton |
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Written by Kevin
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Saturday, 14 March 2009 |
UPDATE - Stockton wins in OT thiller - Look below for running update
8:30 PM MT tonight the Drillers face off with the host Stockton Cougars in the PASL semi-final. You can listen to all the action live via this link or we'll be providing ongoing update on this page.
Stockton earned a bye to the semi-final by finishing a top the PASL Western division standings in the regular season, with a 12-4 record. Including in those five wins was a dominating 16-7 win over the visiting Drillers back in December.
The Drillers have put together a very solid season of their own, with a 9-3 regular season record, including a 3-1 record against PASL opponents. As mentioned before, that only defeat was at the hands of Stockton. Edmonton is also carrying in a lot of momentum with seven straight wins, including consecutive overtime thrillers in win-or-go-home games (7-6 over Calgary in the CMISL final, and 8-7 last night over La Cabana).
It will be a very tough test for the CMISL champs facing off with the much more seasoned Cougars, who previously had spent several seasons playing in the MISL. There is precedent though, as later in the year, Calgary United made a trek of their own down to California, and left with a convincing 11-8 win. The Drillers have proved they can more then hold-their-own against Calgary, beating them five times this year, including in the CMISL final.
In the meantime, if you're staying online you can listen to the other semi-final game between Mexican central-division champion Tigres Dorados and PASL east-division winners 1790 Cincinnati via this link. The winner of that will face off with the winner of the Stockton/Edmonton game tomorrow afternoon.
LIVE UPDATES
- Game kickoff about 20 minutes late as the prior game went long
- Tristan Ilko starts in goal
- Stockton opens the scoring 2:49 in, Susi from Farber
- Edmonton ties it up 6:40 - Pinnell from Costorous
- Edmonton takes the lead 8:30 in - Lam with the goal
- Edmonton adds another at 10:26 - Matic from Pavicic
- Drillers go into the break up 3-1
- Just 16 seconds into the 2nd, Lilavois cut the lead in half
- Edmonton takes 6th foul penalty... then seconds later so does Stockton
- Stockton pressing, but Ilko stands tall... then on the next drive Pinnell adds another - 4-2 Edmonton 4:18 into the 2nd
- Farber carded at 6:53, Edmonton to go on the powerplay
- PP killed off, things getting chippy
- Stockton pulls back within one at 9:19 - Aterado on a restart
- Stockton ties it at 12:46 - Sutton from Lilavois
- Stockton takes the lead at 13:31 - Leone from Santana
- Stockton goes into the half ahead 5-4
- Pavicic ties it up from Matic, seconds into the third
- Edmonton takes the lead at 1:25 - no details
- Pinnell puts Edmonton back up by two at 5:27 of the 3rd - Pinnell from Matic
- Stockton with 2 man advantage after Edmonton takes a penalty & sixth foul on same play...
- Susi on the powerplay, makes it 7-6
- Leone ties it up at 12:17 of the 3rd
- Stockton getting the better of play, but we'll go into the break still tied 7-7
- Farber puts Stockton up early in the 4th
- Edmonton gets it right back, Fraser at 0:59
- Stockton pulls ahead again at 3:06 - Robledo
- 8:28 remaining Stockton takes a penalty
- Pavicic ties it up on the powerplay - tied 9-9 with 8:06 remaining
- Stockton penalized with 3:57 left, Edmonton goes on the powerplay - Stockton coach gets a 5 minutes misconduct
- 3:28 left, Pavicic gets penalty for foul accumulation
- 1:55 left, Stockton pressing but still all tied up
- 0:55 seconds left, Stockton still pressing
- Alderado scores as time expires, but goal is too late... OVERTIME
- Stockton penalized for 6th foul... Edmonton going on the powerplay
- Stockton kills off powerplay, Edmonton then takes their 6th, Stockton now on powerplay
- Edmonton kills off penalty, overtime continues
- STOCKTON SCORES - Susi with the goal at 7:59 of overtime
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 14 March 2009 )
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Written by Kevin
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Friday, 13 March 2009 |
In the PASL-Pro North American Champion in Stockton, CA, the Drillers are facing off with Mexican side La Cabana in their opening round match.
Listen Live
La Cabana opened the scoring 3:24 in, with Eduardo Velez putting the Mexican side ahead. Late in the first Joe Costouros tied it up for the Drillers. The Drillers then pulled ahead with goals from Sini Matic and Jarin Myskiw early in the second quarter.
The Drillers were looking good heading into the half until a disastrous final minute, giving up two goals and just like that we were all tied up at halftime.
Edmonton pressed for most of the third, but was denied time and again by the La Cabana keeper. Finally with just minutes left the Drillers rediscovered their scoring touch and tied it up just before the break.
The Drillers continued their momentum into the 4th, and quickly notched two more in short succession, to put the Canucks up 6-4.
With 10:51 seconds left Sam Lam took a penalty for a slide tackle, and La Cabana made the most of the powerplay, with Velez notching his fourth goal of the night and making the score 6-5. La Cabana shortly added another with a goal from Jorge Corral, and for the fourth time the game was tied.
The momentum swings were not done just yet, after squandering a few good chances Marco Pelligrino tapped in a great Sean Myskiw feed to put the Drillers up 7-6 with 5:25 left.
But we weren't done yet, and another last minute defensive breakdown allowed Jesus Rivas to tie it up yet again, 7-7 with 59 seconds left. After a frenzied final few seconds, the game heads to overtime.
After several near misses and dominating play in the extra frame, finally the Drillers put it away after a great play by Pavicic feeding Joe Costorous, who made no mistake, scoring the winner 4:17 into overtime.
Edmonton will now face off with PASL-West top cede, and host, Stockton Cougars in the semi-final. That game will start at 8:30PM MT, Saturday night.
For those interested the other quarter-final will go at about 9PM MT, and will see the Denver Dynamite face off with Tigres Dorados MRCI Oaxaca. The winner of that game will face off with 1790 Cincinnati in the other semi-final tomorrow.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 14 March 2009 )
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Drillers successfully defend title |
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Written by PASL
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Monday, 09 March 2009 |
The Edmonton Drillers continued their string of positive results over Calgary United in the CMISL with a 7-6 overtime victory on Sunday in Calgary. The victory was the 5th in as many games, and earned the Drillers a trip to Stockton for the North American finals next weekend.
Calgary got on the board first when Felix Napuri nodded home a ball that bounced high off the back wall, but Edmonton responded 2 minutes later when Phil Pavicic capitalized on a turnover in the Calgary end. Calgary took the lead again when Fran Miron drilled a ball to the low right hand corner, but Pavicic tied it up for the second time on a breakaway set up from a long throw from Tristan Ilko in the Edmonton goal.
In the second quarter Mike Ortega’s toe poke from distance eluded everyone, including Ilko, and Napuri doubled the lead a couple of minutes later, but Sean Fraser pulled one back 26 seconds after that. The rest of the half played out fairly even, but Calgary outshot Edmonton slightly going into the break and would regret not capitalizing on a few more of their chances.
Edmonton turned the game in their favor early in the second half when Fraser scored 31 seconds in off another Calgary turnover, and Angelo Sestito’s power play marker with 2:21 gone gave them a lead they would never relinquish. United tied it at 5 with just 3:06 to go in the fourth quarter when Andre Duberry put a rocket into the top corner, but Edmonton took advantage of some soft marking to take the lead again with under 2 minutes to play.
Calgary went to the 6th attacker right away, and forced the game into overtime when Nic Reyes beat Ilko from a sharp angle, but Sam Lam jumped on a sloppy clearance 5 minutes into overtime and put the ball over Bryan Klaus’ left shoulder for the victory.
Fran Miron’s second 3 point game in as many days earned him man of the match for Calgary, and Tristan Ilko was the difference once again for Edmonton in this latest battle of Alberta. All five games on the season were decided by just one goal.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 13 March 2009 )
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Written by Tim
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Monday, 23 February 2009 |
Well the close 7 - 6 win that Calgary got in Wenatchee's home was not
to be repeated. Calgary won this one 22 - 2 and it wasn't that close.
Calgary scored in the first minute and that was as close as it would
get. Calgary simply dominated to such an extent that I wonder if
Wenatchee played a different team at home. Every single aspect of the
game was simply owned by Calgary. Speed, touch, formation, movement,
passing, shooting, possession and any other measure was clearly in
Calgary's favour by a large margin.
What is it about teams from cities that start with "W"? Except for
their 2 wins Wenatchee is the new Winnipeg. While this is a nice
practice or warm up game for Calgary going into the double header
against Edmonton on the 27th it wasn't my type of game. Even though we
lost both, the Edmonton games were excellent, close and well played by
both teams. This was just a shellacking even by Wenatchee standards.
So Calgary is up in Edmonton for a crucial double header with lots of
practice under their belt and Wenatchee are off to Saskatoon to face a
very improved Accelerators team.
UPDATE: Saskatoon defeated Wenatchee 18-2 |
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Battle of Alberta renewed |
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Written by Tim
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Sunday, 11 January 2009 |
The last time these 2 teams played in Calgary it was the Drillers
coming away with a 6-5 win on their opportunistic scoring. So would
the pox on Calgary United that the Drillers seem to be continue?
The game started off fast and furious as both goalies probably
wondered where their defenses were in the opening minutes. First 1-0
Edmonton, then 1-1 then 2-1 Drillers then Calgary tied it up and we
are only 3 minutes into the game!
At the 5 minute mark the Driller goalie made a nice leg save but
shortly after Calgary setup a nice back pass from in front and a quick
shot giving Calgary a 3-2 lead. Four minutes later Calgary almost
extended their lead when they just trickled a deflection wide and
Edmonton's goalie made another leg save on the play that followed.
Then it was Edmonton's turn. With 2 1/2 minutes to go Edmonton
executed a nice cross and tap in play followed up 30 seconds later
with a scrambler. A Calgary player was knocked down in the box but no
call so the goal counted. With 30 seconds to go in the first quarter
Calgary got caught on a line change and the Drillers executed another
nice cross and tap in. They could have added another but Calgary's
goalie saved it with 10 seconds to go. 5-3 Edmonton.
Second quarter started right where it left off and Edmonton missed an
open net from in front at the one minute mark. Calgary settled down
and started to own the ball. They went on a long run of 4 minutes
where they kept the ball in Edmonton's half only retreating to their
half to get the ball when Edmonton cleared it. This continued until
halfway through the quarter when Calgary finally got a goal for their.
A very nice give and go with a return to the play originator for the
goal. Two minutes later Calgary equalized again on a rebound goal.
With a few more saves at both ends it went to half time tied at 5-5.
So on to the second half with Calgary jumping to a quick lead after 1
minute done in style with a passing play and tap in. That lead lasted
for 4 minutes when Edmonton executed a 3 on 2. Calgary went up 7-6
seconds later from a set play in front to an open side player who one
timed it in. The goals continued to come in quick pairs as the sixth
minute rolled around. First an Edmonton player made a nice long run,
got into position and put the ball low to the corner of the net.
Seconds later Calgary executed a very nice tic-tac-toe goal in front.
At the 9 minute point the Drillers took a penalty giving Calgary a man
advantage for 2 minutes. They came close 4 times but didn't score.
Then a minute later Calgary took a penalty and they played 4 on 4. For
a minute it looked like a futsal game had broken out! Nothing came of
it goal wise or the minute power play that Edmonton enjoyed.
Several minutes later Calgary intercepted a pass at center, quickly
passed it down to the far corner and scored on the cross. So Calgary
are up 2 goals with one quarter to play. Does that sound familiar?
Deja vu from the game in November.
The last quarter saw Edmonton draw to within one on a breakaway
finished with a low hard left footed shot. Two minutes in and it was
now 9-8 for Calgary. Thirty seconds later that was gone when Edmonton
executed a free kick from the side to setup a shot from the front. All
tied up at 9 apiece.
The Drillers almost took the lead at the 5 minute mark with a 3 on 2
that was saved by Calgary's goalie. Shortly after Edmonton drew a 2
minute penalty and ended up 2 men short! Try as they might Calgary
could not score the go ahead goal and Edmonton successfully killed the
2 minutes.
To make matters worse Edmonton would score two minutes later on a
scramble in front of the Calgary net. With 4 minutes to go they were
up 10-9. Calgary attacked for the last 4 minutes and pulled their
goalie for an extra attacker with a minute and a half to go but
Edmonton held on for the win.
This has got to be frustrating for Calgary as they had more time of
possession, controlled the ball better, passed more effectively and
had the better run of play. Edmonton continues to find ways to win by
scoring on their opportunities. They were clearly outplayed for long
stretches of the game but seem to have the bamboo strategy of bend but
don't break down to an art form.
It was also nice to see the local TV at the game with both CTV and
Global taking some footage. Hopefully they will get some exposure from
this. The crowd was a good size with there being as many people as
there was for the home opener against Denver. It was also nice to see
Nicola Vignjevic playing for Edmonton again although it seemed to be
mostly on power plays.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 11 January 2009 )
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Written by Kevin
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Friday, 02 January 2009 |
In a rematch of last weeks doubleheader, the results were much the same with Saskatoon and Edmonton spliting Friday night at Servus Place. More to come |
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Drillers split with Accelerators |
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Written by Kevin
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Friday, 26 December 2008 |
Edmonton and Saskatoon split a Boxing Day doubleheader at Servus Place, Friday night. The Accelerators were a much stronger side then last year, outshooting the homeside in both games.
In the opener the Drillers were spurred on to a 7-4 victory on the strength of two goals by Sam Lam. Nikola Vignjevic also made his first appearance of the season, adding a goal of his own in the winning effort. He did not suit up for the second game. Sean Myskiw, Chris Lemire, Eric Pinnell also had goals to round out Edmonton's scoring.
Game two saw the Accelerators come out even more fired up, and put up a much better effort then the Drillers, and capitalized on many miscues by the homee side. Chris McAllister lead the way for Saskatoon with a hat-trick, and Jay Tomchuk had a pair. Angelo Sestito, Kyle Bartkus and Freddy Malek tallied for Edmonton in a losing effort. Saskatoon walked away with the 6-3 decision, and the split.
They'll do it again next Friday, also at Servus Place.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 02 January 2009 )
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Written by Kevin
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Friday, 19 December 2008 |
Lightning sniper Mehdi Sfaira did all he could to try to spur the visitors from the south with four goals. Fortunately for the Drillers he was the only Colorado player to score, while the home side racked up seven of their own to salt away their third win of the season. Pavicic continued his scoring streak with two goals, and Sam Lam tallied a couple of his own to lead the club to a victory in their home opener.
The win runs Edmonton's record to 3-1, and tying them for top spot in the CMISL with six points with Calgary, but with a game in hand. They will see action the next two Friday nights with consecutive double headers against Saskatoon, both at Servus Place.
Colorado drops to 3-3 on the year, and will continue their Canadian road trip tomorrow night in Saskatoon.
Here are some highlights from the late local news shows...
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 20 December 2008 )
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Calgary Soccer Centres roof collapses |
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Written by Kevin
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Monday, 22 December 2008 |
 United FC may be looking for a new place to practice for the time being, and may even have to look into moving their coming home games in the New Year after a build up of ice and snow collapsed the roof of the Calgary Soccer Centre.
Story and picture here
No word yet on exactly how long the building will be out of service (some are saying up to a month to repair the bubble), but the damage is extensive and currently they are scrambling to move their scheduled games to other venues. Evidently only the bubble was effected. The bubble housed three indoor fields and two mini-fields, while the main building houses four fields.
We'll keep you posted.
 Picture of the roof after it collapsed early this morning - Photo from ctv.ca |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 22 December 2008 )
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Written by Kevin
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Saturday, 20 December 2008 |
Colorado wrapped up their Canadian tour today with a six hour bus ride through -40 temperatures to take on the Accelerators in Saskatoon. Unfortunately for them their fortunes didn't improve. The Lightning came to find themselves down three goals early before scoring a couple to get within one, but Saskatoon added a couple more of there own and ended up walking away with the 5-3 result.
The game was the home opener for the Accelerators, who had dropped two games in Calgary last month. It was another sparse crowd, as Saskatoon didn't fare any better with the holiday game or cold weather then Edmonton did the night earlier. Saskatoon will get to know the Yellowhead real well, as they'll be spending the next two Fridays at Servus Place for double headers against the Drillers.
Here are the highlights from Global Saskatoon...
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 20 December 2008 )
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Schedule - '08/'09
| Nov 22nd |
at Cal (7-6 W)
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| Dec 13th |
at Sto (16-7 L)
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Dec 14th
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at Wen (10-7 W)
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| Dec 19th |
vs Col (7-4 W)
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| Dec 26th |
vs Sask (7-4 W)
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| Dec 26th |
vs Sask (6-3 L)
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| Jan 2nd |
vs Sask (7-4 L)
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| Jan 2nd |
vs Sask (4-3 W)
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| Jan 10th |
at Cal (10-9 W)
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| Feb 27th |
vs Cal (6-5 W)
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| Feb 27th |
vs Cal (4-3 W) |
| Mar 6th |
vs Tex (13-10 W)
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| Mar 8th |
Championship Final |
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vs Cal (7-6 W OT) |
| Mar 13th |
PASL Quarter-Final |
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vs LC (8-7 W OT)
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| Mar 14th |
PASL Semi-Final |
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vs Stockton |
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