West Van FC U21 2 – 4 Rino’s Vancouver SC U21
Rino’s Vancouver SC Under-21 team staged a heroic 2nd half comeback on Sunday to upend the reigning VMSL League and Cup Champions, West Van FC on the strength of a hat-trick by Bezhar Mauloud. With Rino’s facing a 2-1 deficit and only 30 minutes remaining to play, Mauloud took the game by the scruff of the neck, scoring first with a free kick, then a penalty, and finally from open play.
West Van FC opened the scoring, late in the first half with a controversial goal resulting from a scramble in the penalty area. Rino’s defender Brent Petersen cleared the ball as it was heading goal-ward, but the referee’s assistant adjudged his intervention to be too late and awarded the goal after deeming that the ball had in fact crossed the goal-line. Rino’s tried to equalize, but West Van’s defense held to them mostly long range shots which their keeper easily dealt with.
In the 2nd half, West Van FC were able to double their lead as they took advantage of a breakdown in the Rino’s backline, and attacked the goal with numbers. The 2-goal margin didn’t last long however, as Rino’s striker Zako Fuat cut into the lead with a deft chip over West Van’s goalkeeper. Shortly thereafter, the Bezhar Mauloud show began, as the diminutive maestro fired a free kick beyond the goalkeeper’s reach to level the game at 2-2. Then when teammate Drissa Bouare was bundled over in the West Van FC penalty area, “B” was called upon again and delivered the goods with a fine penalty that sent the goalkeeper the wrong way and gave Rino’s the 3-2 lead. Finally “B” put the game out of West Van’s reach as Fuat layed the ball off to him and he expertly slid it under the West Van keeper.
Rino’s Vancouver SC U21 Head Coach Andrew Roets called the game a “rollercoaster,” and urged his team to “keep focused and continue the game winning spirit, attitude and teamwork that they showed in this victory.”
Rino’s Vancouver SC U21 team will now face Langley United of the Fraser Valley Soccer League who advanced from their first round match with a 1-0 victory over Peninsula United. The quarter-final cup match up will be played on Sunday, April 22 with a 1pm kickoff at Memorial South Turf.