A team doesn’t become a regular high school soccer provincial championship contender without knowing how to stage a comeback or two, but what the Central Cyclones pulled off on Saturday afternoon was one for the ages.
Central scored two goals in the final 20 minutes, including the tying marker as time ran down, and then added two more in overtime to take a 4-2 victory over the Regina Luther Lions at YaraCentre fields.
Not only was it an amazing rally, it came in the most important game of the season for the defending 4A boys champions. The two teams were in a win-or-your-season-ends situation in the regional semifinal, and as a result, Central will be returning to provincials in a week’s time.
“We never stopped working, the guys are in great shape and we have great stamina and we just kept pushing,” said Cyclones Grade 12 and co-captain Rylan Schaffer. “The two goals at the start weren’t indicative of how our team is and it was great to be able to pull off the comeback.”
Regina took a 2-0 lead out of the first half and looked to have things in hand as time ticked down in the second, but an awful knee injury to a Luther player led to an ambulance being called to the field and a near half-hour delay.
Once play resumed, it was a completely different game.
“After the injury, we all got together and talked and devoted ourselves to the final 20 minutes,” said co-captain Kai Dingle. “All we needed was one goal at a time, one foot in the gate… this isn’t the first time we’ve had a comeback like this, we did it against (Yorkton) Regional (in the league semifinal), but after the goals you have to come back and settle and keep putting in the work.”
Minutes after the teams were back in action, Schaffer scored on a long shot from the top of the box to make it a 2-1 game. Central was utterly relentless from there on in, generating chance after chance and even getting a penalty kick after a handball in the box.
Luther goalkeeper Adam Nickel was able to make a huge save on that play, but he couldn’t stop Patrick Pryadko as time ran down.
The Cyclones’ Grade 11 outduelled a defender and got a shot off from about 20 yards out that found nothing but net and touched off a raucous celebration among Central players and fans alike.
Less than two minutes later, full-time was whistled and the teams were off to overtime.
“Once we scored those two goals, we had all the momentum and momentum changes games,” Schaffer said. “You could see it, their heads were down and it was ‘we got this now’. We believed in ourselves, everyone was confident and did what they needed to do to win.”
Overtime was a silver-goal format with two five-minute halves, and Central wasted no time taking their first lead.
Samuel Mendes put a high, arcing shot from long range into the Luther net inside the first minute and Josh Sazon would finish things off with the lone goal of the second overtime half.
The victory meant Central would finish in the top two in regionals and as a result book a spot in provincials. The Cyclones faced off against Yorkotn Sacred Heart in the regional final for provincial seeding purposes later Saturday and dropped a 2-1 decision.
“We’ve both been there, this is my third time and his third time and we’re seniors this time, so it’s going to be exciting to lead the team through that,” Dingle said. “We just have to go into it and know it’s not going to come easy and we’re going to have to work for it.”
Schaffer was of much the same opinion.
“Every year, it’s an awesome experience going to provincials and we’re a team that’s had a lot of success, so it’s good to keep the tradition going,” he said. “We have a lot of guys who know how to win and it’s always just a great time going to provincials.”
The 4A boys provincial championship runs Oct. 27-28 in Humboldt.
The Vanier Spirits were in action in the 4A girls regional tournament at YaraCentre feild and dropped a 2-0 decision to Regina Luther in their semifinal match-up on Saturday morning. Yorkton Sacred Heart defeated Luther 5-1 in the final, with those two teams advancing to the 4A girls championship in Regina.
