The Central Cyclones looked like the kind of team that could take a serious run at a provincial championship in Moose Jaw High School Athletic Association boys soccer action on Wednesday evening.
But as well as things went in their 8-1 win over the Swift Current Colts at Canada Games Field, there’s always more room for improvement and plenty of work to do.
Central scored three goals in the first half and poured on the pressure after the break, carrying the play much of the second half before securing their third win in four outings in the regular season.
“I was happy to see that they’re succeeding at what we’re working on, which is possession and passing,” said Cyclones coach Holly McCorriston "That’s what I’m more happy with, and a lot of our success was based on that.”
Makariy Pryadko, Patrick Pryadko and Idunu Afolabi all scored for Central in the first half, while Carter Munro replied for Swift Current on a penalty kick.
The Cyclones kept up the pressure in the second half, with Makariy Pryadko finishing off his hat trick before adding a fourth goal on a late penalty kick. Kal Dingle and Landon Meacher also scored to round out Central’s offence.
Central won’t have a lot of time to prepare for their regular-season finale, which is set for this Saturday at Canada Games Field. The Cyclones will host Yorkton Sacred Heart at 11 a.m. before battling Yorkton Regional at 3 p.m.
McCorriston will be hoping to see even more improvement from her troops in the two games, especially with the playoffs coming up in the near future.
“There are a few things we want to keep working on, like shot placement and some fine tuning, but it’s coming along,” she said. “Our endurance was up [Wednesday], too, we were able to play as a team with the entire team, and we have a large bench, so that was important.”
Central’s lone loss of the season came on Sept. 24 in the second game of a doubleheader in Yorkton, and having another crack at one of their 4A provincial rivals will be a solid test.
“We’re eager to have a second shot at them,” McCorriston said.
The league playoffs are set to begin on Wednesday, Oct. 12 with the girls quarterfinals, while the boys semifinals will take place Thursday, Oct. 13. The girls semifinals run Saturday, Oct. 15, with the title games both taking place on Tuesday, Oct. 18.
All playoff games are at the Canada Games Fields next to YaraCentre.
After that, it’s regionals during the Oct. 21 weekend, followed by provincials back in Moose Jaw on Oct. 28-29, with the Cyclones acting as tournament hosts.
“We’re going to just keep working on our game,” McCorriston said of preparing for that event. “We’re getting better at possession, and we just need to work on our press. But we’re in good shape, and we’re looking forward to it.”
