Memorable week has a silver lining for FC Northwest squad

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This article was published 20/10/2010 (5762 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The thrill of a semifinal comeback gave way to the agony of a gold-medal game defeat for the FC Northwest boys’ soccer team that represented Manitoba at the national Under-16 Cup.

The local boys dropped a 3-1 decision to Ontario in gold-medal game on Oct. 11 in Vaughan, Ont.

While that game — which was a one-goal contest until late, when Ontario was able to successfully counter an all-out offensive attack by Manitoba — was disappointing, it’s the semifinal win over Alberta that the players and coaches are likely to remember for a long time.

Trailing 1-0 after a sluggish start, the Manitoba squad finally found its legs late in the first half and began to dominate.

“We had the ball in their half for the whole second half, but we couldn’t score,” said head coach Jorge Carreiro.

Finally, after countless great saves by the Alberta goalkeeper (who is set to join the Polish national team), Enrique Garcea scored the equalizer for Manitoba in the 89th minute. The excitement had hardly subsided before a nifty passing play set up Marco Bustos’s top-corner shot from the left wing during injury time to send Manitoba to the final with a 2-1 win.

“We had so many chances,” said Dylan Carreiro, who won the Golden Boot award with a tournament-high six goals. “With two minutes left, I thought it was over. They were hanging by a thread, but we couldn’t finish.

“Once we got equal, we were all pumped up. When we scored the winner to make it to the finals it was an amazing feeling. The last couple minutes was all heart; it was all us using our hearts and our brains.”

The bulk of the FC Northwest team has been together for five and a half years, but it will be without both Carreiros next season. Dylan left his Garden City home in September to join the Toronto FC Academy, and his father will be joining him there.

“It was a very happy and exciting time for everybody,” Jorge said, “but at the end it was a little sad. The team is changing a bit and everybody realized that.”

The win over Alberta was a perfect microcosm of the team, said the coach.

“One thing I’ll say about this team is that it never quits,” he said. “They play with heart until the end. They believe with 30 seconds left that they can score goals, and that’s why they’re so successful.”

Dylan said it was an honour, and a major accomplishment, for a Manitoba team to win a silver medal — something that doesn’t happen very often. He said the final game against Ontario — which played Manitoba to a 0-0 draw during the group stage of competition — could easily have turned out differently.

“I think it would be a different story if we played them again,” he said. “We made a couple mental mistakes and they (took advantage of) them.”

Manitoba won its group on the strength of a 7-0 win over New Brunswick and a 10-0 pounding of the Yukon in the group stage.

avi.saper@canstarnews.com