Missed opportunity for Valour FC

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This article was published 18/09/2022 (1417 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Elation and heartbreak penned another muddy chapter in Valour FC’s late-season playoff push.

Valour drew Atlético Ottawa 1-1 at IG Field on Sunday, in the pro soccer club’s last home game of the regular season.

A win would have vaulted Valour (10-7-8) to within two points of first place, while a loss could’ve been fatal to their playoff hopes.

The tie nudges Valour one point ahead of Pacific FC for the CPL’s fourth and final playoff spot with three games remaining on the docket. At the time of writing, the Winnipeg club has 37 points, though the Victoria squad has five games remaining, one which was to be played Sunday evening.

“A playoff game, I felt, in many ways,” said head coach Phillip Dos Santos after the match. “At this moment, you need to get points. Of course three (points) is always our target, right? But we also need to have the maturity and the ability — in games that are tight like this — to make sure you don’t lose them.”

“Later today, we will know if it’s two points lost or a point won in relation to the team that’s behind us.”

Sunday was the fourth meeting of the season between the two playoff hopefuls. After thumping Atlético 6-1 in the third match of the season, Valour drew and fell to the top-seeded club in the other two matches.

As expected, offence was at a premium in a contest that featured two of the CPL’s most stout defensive squads. Valour entered the match allowing a third-best 1.04 goals per match. Atlético ranked slightly ahead conceding one goal per outing.

Despite Valour dominating the stat sheet — possessing the ball 59.2 per cent of the match while leading in shots on target (4-3) and shots from inside the box (10-5) — their lone goal came outside of open play.

After a scoreless first half in which neither team could break through, Valour found a crack in Atlético’s armour in the 68th minute.

An accurate ball by Sean Rea on the corner-kick found captain Andrew Jean-Baptiste on the backside of the formation, where the defender would pot a beautiful header to break the deadlock in Valour’s favour.

The goal sent the Winnipeg faithful into pandemonium, as Baptiste had potted his first goal since suffering a season-ending knee injury last July and drew his club within 20 minutes of a crucial win.

“Massive,” Jean-Baptiste said. “I came close numerous times and like coach said, ‘Finally.’”

“(The fans) have been waiting for me to score. The fans deserve that. That’s why my celebration, I’m running toward the bench but took a massive U-turn and went straight to The Trench. They’ve stuck by me through everything … it being the last home game, it’s something they rightfully deserve.”

Rea was credited with an assist, raising his running total to eight on the season, the most in the CPL.

The good times wouldn’t last 10 minutes, though, as Ottawa punched back with a corner-kick of in the 77th minute. Forward Ollie Bassett curled in a high-arching challenge that narrowly evaded the outstretched fingertips of Valour keeper Jonathan Sirois and found the top corner of the net.

The highlight-reel marker was Bassett’s ninth of the season and quickly stunned the buzzing crowd. Sirois, making his third-straight start in goal for the hosts after riding the bench for six consecutive, fell to the turf in disbelief.

A late chance by Jean-Baptiste on another corner-kick from Rea would nearly yield a similar result, but no cigar, leaving Valour with a one-point advantage heading into the final stretch of the regular season.

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“I think our team has the ability to do it. I think that on the road, we’ve been able to play good road games and I trust that our guys have the mentality, the ability and quality to go and get the points that we need to get on the road,” Dos Santos said.

“There’s a lot to be played still. There are 270 minutes of football to be played and we need to approach the week, work well, stay strong and keep going.”

Valour will do battle with York United (8-6-11) at York Lions Stadium on Friday.

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jfreysam

Joshua Frey-Sam
Reporter

Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.

Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.