Staff
One game offered no surprises. The other was drenched in suspense until the final ball was struck.
The Borderland Soccer League men’s division semifinals played out in dramatically different ways last night at the Struchan Gilson pitches.
First-place International Travel Services easily dispatched the underdog La Place Rendez-Vous Voyageurs U-18 squad by a convincing 6-1 margin.
ITS shared the offensive wealth, with six different players bulging the twine.
Ian Friesen, Daniel Cunningham, Cameron Gobeil,Marouane Cheblaoui, Gavin Moorhouse and Garnet Cornell did the damage for ITS, which moves into Thursday’s gold-medal final at 6:30 p.m.
Tyler Ruppenstein was the lone marksman for the Voyageurs, who upset Pharmasave 1-0 last Thursday in the 4 vs. 5 first-round playoff game.
One field over, second-ranked Senior Pharmasave and third-ranked Manitou Forest Products engaged in an edge-of-the-seat matchup which was tied 1-1 after regulation on goals by Allan Albao for Senior Pharmasave and league scoring champion Ahmadou Idrissou for Manitou.
That necessitated penalty kicks to determine a winner, with Senior Pharmasave connecting on all four of their attempts—including the clinching drive by Albao—to win the shootout 4-1
Manitou and La Place Rendez-Vous will face off in the bronze-medal game tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m.
Tonight, the women take over the fields as they hold their semifinal round.
First-place La Place Rendez-Vous Voyageurs U-18 (13-2-1 in the regular season) will squared off with fourth-place Al’s Racquet Stringing (1-14-1), while second-place Boston Pizza (12-3-1) tangles with third-place Taggs Source for Sports (4-11-1).
The winners advance to Thursday’s gold-medal game at 6:30 p.m., with the losing sides playing for bronze tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m.
