Joey Payeur
James Pavier woke up last Thursday knowing he would have a key role to play that evening in the biggest game of the local men’s soccer season.
He never guessed it would involve putting the ball into the net rather than keeping it out.
Pavier went from stopper to sniper in a matter of seconds as he followed his superb save in the seventh round of the penalty kick shootout with the game-winning goal to give Manitou Forest Products a 6-5 victory over the La Place Rendez-Vous U18 Voyageurs.
“It was the furthest thing from my mind,” Pavier chuckled about becoming a goal-scoring hero after he and Voyageurs’ keeper Alex Gustafson battled to a scoreless tie at the end of regulation time.
“I was just looking to not mess up and put in a good performance, and let the boys take care of it,” he added after finishing the playoffs having allowed no goals in 180 minutes of regulation play.
“I made a bad mistake [in last year’s final] to let in a goal so it was nice to contribute.”
The third-place Voyageurs, who had upset defending champion ITS 1-0 in the semi-finals last Tuesday, not only shot first in the shootout but also took the early lead.
Vous scoring leader Kevin Metke beat Pavier to the low right corner before Gustafson stoned Dave Carlesimo with an outstanding right leg kick save.
Connor Bujold and league scoring champ Ahmadou Idrissou then traded goals before Pavier got the regular-season champs back on serve with a two-handed punch save against Liam Metke in the third round.
That proved vital as Chad Faragher bombed a shot to the top right corner to square the shootout.
The shooters took over for the next three rounds, with Ian Jodoin, Cam Lidkea, and Kirk Johnson each bulging the twine for the Vous.
But they were matched shot for shot by Chris Sinclair, Chris Faragher, and Carter Chorney.
With the shootout tied 5-5 and having reached the sudden-death stage, Joey Angus tried to keep the Voyageurs one step ahead with his attempt on goal.
But the man named the circuit’s top keeper this season sniffed out Angus’ plan ahead of time and lunged to his right just in time to knock the ball wide of the net.
The subsequent decision on Manitou’s next shooter was automatic at that point in Pavier’s mind.
“Once I made that save, I knew I wanted to take it,” he remarked.
Setting up at the penalty spot, Pavier composed himself and then hammered the ball to the bottom right corner of the net past a valiant but overmatched Gustafson.
“That’s my favourite spot to shoot,” admitted Pavier, who expressed a deep feeling of pride for what his team replete with long-toothed veterans had achieved.
“This is an aging team and not everyone was able to physically compete two games a week, so it’s nice to be able to finish the job,” he noted.
Along with Pavier’s accolade, and the Golden Boot Award being given to Idrissou for the second-straight year after his 17-goal campaign, other post-season honours were handed out following the match.
Lucas Koomans (MVP) and Caleb Koomans (most sportsmanlike) were other Manitou players recognized.
So were Angus (Heart and Soul Award) and Liam Metke (best defensive player) from the Vous, along with Nico Kooistra of ITS (top rookie).
