ILL JEFFREY
ssistant Sports Editor

hback to that sunburnt afternoon in July 1994, when
ys Roberto Baggio faced Brazilian goalkeeper,
ffarel, in the heat of the Californian Rose Bowl, with
World Cup of soccer riding on the outcome of the
y-tailed Italian’s penalty kick. The two teams had
yed scoreless through 120 minutes of regulation and
ra time, leading up to the decision by penalties—one
the cruelest duels in sport. Brazil had gone three for
r in their penalties, while Italy had counted two for
r. As the fifth shooter, Baggio represented Italy’s last
nce. With confidence, he booted the ball far out of
farel’s reach, up and over the bar, missing the goal
mpletely. He fell to his knees in disbelief and despair as
Brazilians celebrated their World Cup win.
The Douglas College Royals took the Algonquin
nder of Ontario to a sixth penalty kick to decide the
adian college championship, on November 9, in
ntreal. The two teams battled through an intense
ne that ended in a 1—1 tie in regulation time, with the
inder sounding their goal in the first half, and the
vals restoring the balance in the second half. The tying
| came when “the ball was driven into the box and
tt (Ormerod) controlled it, and laid it back” to Rigg
mar, as Coach Ormerod described the play. “He
ked into it and scored from 18 yards.” The Royals
lied pressure after that, but could not score the go-
d goal, setting up the penalty kick shootout.
)ne of the Royals penalty kickers was first-year
ender Devon Greenside. “It’s pretty nerve-wracking,”
aid. “It’s the national finals, so it’s pretty intense...I’ve
bn PKs for other teams so I’m a bit used to it...you just
e to do the same thing you do in practice, and try to
hs comfortable as you can.” It worked for Greenside,
e counted the Royals’ second penalty goal. His broth-
hrisopher “CJ” Greenside followed his lead, scoring
Douglas. The first penalty had been scored by
thew Ormerod. What was going through Ormerod’s
d as he prepared for the penalty? “This is going to
.” he told the Other Press. He was still suffering from
oin pull from a month earlier. Nevertheless, Ormerod
“expected the ball to hit the back of the net,” because
had scored some penalty goals during the regular sea-
and felt sure of his shot.
ith the championship decided by penalty kicks, how
p the shooters selected? Devon Greenside said, “We
't really have chosen shooters.” He added that, as the

Royals enjoying their Provincials triumph: (Left to right) BCCAA Trophy; Best
Defender: Kristopher Peterson; Best Forward and MVP: Stedman Espinoza

Wi

coach, “you can’t really put someone in that position if
they're not ready. You just have to let them decide for
themselves.” The players who felt most comfortable with
the situation were the ones who took the chance and
stepped forward. Coach Ormerod had confidence in all
18 of his talented players. “I was proud of everybody who
took penalties because it takes a lot of courage.” In con-
trast with Roberto Baggio’s world-class miss of the
Brazilian goal, “at least with my lads the keeper had to
make the save,” Coach Ormerod said. “And the Ontario
keeper did make two good saves.” On deciding a cham-
pionship by penalty kicks, the coach likened the method
to lottery tickets, saying of the shootout, “that’s a raffle.
It’s not the game.”

The Royals can measure their success this year by being
in the national final. They could easily have found them-
selves watching the gold medal game, after losing their
first game of the nationals, 1-0 to the host team, John
Abbott College of Montreal. Interestingly, host teams
aside (John Abbot/men; Dawson College/women),
Quebec and Ontario were represented at the nationals by
the same schools on the men’s side as on the women’s
side: Algonquin from Ontario, and College FX Garneau
(eventual women’s national champion) from Quebec.

The Royals first game was played indoors on artificial
turf, but DC is used to playing on grass. Goalkeeper
Stephen Way found it most difficult to adjust. His clear-
ing kicks kept hitting the low ceiling. Assistant coach
Shane Ramsey said, apart from the keeper, “the others
adjusted to it fairly quickly.” Players Ryan Sigurdson,
Greenside and Ormerod all noted that the artificial turf
increased the speed of the game, as the ball traveled faster
than on grass. The playing conditions and the novelty of
being at the nationals for the first time affected the
Royals. Their first game loss was a gut-wrenching lesson.

“We were devastated,” said Matthew Ormerod. The
Royals held a team meeting and regrouped. They
renewed their determination. In spite of the loss, there
was still a way to finish atop Pool B, and get through to
the gold medal game. They had to outscore the opposi-
tion in their next game by two goals, because the John
Abbott team that beat Douglas on Wednesday (Nov. 6),
lost to Concordia of Alberta on Thursday (Nov. 7). The
Royals watched that game with increasing confidence.
Concordia showed some exploitable weaknesses. “Their
fullbacks were not the swiftest,” Coach Ormerod said.

 

“And we had speed down the flanks.”

Devon Greenside credited the coach’s role in the team’s
recovery between the first and the second game, saying,
“he doesn’t get down on us. And of course he watches the
other teams play and looks at their strengths and weak-
nesses.” Coach Ormerod discerns how the Royals need to
play to rule, and the team executes that game plan.

On Friday (Nov. 8), Douglas went into their second
game with an improved attitude, determined to prove
themselves, and to “make a statement,” as Ramsey said,
to defy “everybody that said we didn’t deserve to be there
after the first game.”

The game against Alberta’s Concordia College was a
breakout for one first-year forward, a jet that goes by the
name of Ryan Fries. Gifted with sonic speed, Fries took
flight and was ultimately named DC “Player of the
Game.” Ramsey said, “he was explosive up and down the
wings. Most teams haven't seen a player of that speed
coming at them, so he really stood out.” Coach Ormerod
said, “he scored a tremendous goal off a long throw-in
from Matt (Ormerod), a header which really broke the
game wide open.”

As for the Concordian defenders, “we got round the
back of them all day,” the coach said. “We were getting
good quality balls into the box, and we were getting guys
into the box with authority.” The Albertan keeper made
some exceptional saves to keep the score respectable.
Besides Fries’ header, other DC goals were scored by Sean
Jimenez, Stedman Espinoza and John Mackie, as
Douglas won 4-1, clinching their rightful place in the
gold medal game of the national finals.

In the final, Douglas faced Algonquin College of
Ontario. A hard-fought 1-1 game came down to penal-
ty kicks. After five shooters, the two teams were tied at
four goals apiece, as Ormerod, the brothers Greenside
and Kristopher Peterson all coolly drove their kicks into
the Thunder net. Peterson was named DC “Player of the
Game,” and was solid in each game, “the Defender of the
tournament,” in the eyes of his coach, but was surpris-
ingly overlooked in all-star recognition. Ramsey said,
“Kris Peterson was robbed of tournament all-star.”

Royals keeper Stephen Way stopped the fifth
Algonquin shooter, setting up the dramatic situation of a
sixth penalty kick. Ryan Fries dared to take the penalty
for the Royals but his shot was stopped by the goalkeep-
er. The Algonquin shooter struck goal, rumbling the
nationals in the Thunder’s favour.

The Douglas College Royals ended an otherwise

incredibly successful season as very nearly the best men’s
college soccer team in Canada. Unofficially, our guys are
the best, and have done DC proud over the course of
their accomplishments in this breakthrough year.
Three Royals were named to the all-tournament team:
Stedman Espinoza, Ryan Fries and Chris “C]” Greenside
(DC “Player of the Game” against John Abbott). “CJ was
probably our MVP,” said Ramsey. “He played hurt most
of the tournament...a strained calf muscle and a sprained
ankle, but game after game he came back and showed he
was a premier player, and a class player. In most circum-
stances, in the regular season, he probably wouldn't have
played. It just shows how hard he worked, and how
much he wanted it.”

Next year, Douglas College is guaranteed to return to
the nationals, as host of the championship. A few players
will not be back (Matthew Ormerod, who assisted on
four of the Royals’ five goals, is off to London to try out
for Division One Gillingham, nicknamed the “Gills”),
but up to 14 members of the team will return, so while
the Royals were crowned with silver this year and learned
from the experience, their prospects for next year are pos-
itively brilliant. They will be there, playing to rule and to
reign over all pretenders to the throne of college soccer

 

 

Supremacy.
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