Victoria Highlanders FC News Release -- www.victoriahighlandersfc.com
Friday, May 2, 2014
VICTORIA, B.C. – The defending 2013 Western Conference Champions Victoria Highlanders FC kick off their 2014 PDL season on Sunday afternoon against Northwest Division rival Vancouver Whitecaps U-23 at Royal Athletic Park at 2 p.m. PT. Several high-profile off-season signings including former Whitecap Cam Hundal complement a strong mix of veterans and returning players from last season’s roster.
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Leading the Victoria-based squad is captain Tyler Hughes, who returns for his fifth season with the club. Hughes’ experience is supplemented by returning veterans Riley O’Neill, Blair Sturrock as well as recent signing Manny Gomez. The Highlanders also feature seven local players from the University of Victoria Vikes, as well as several of the top collegiate-level players from across the country.
After finishing the 2013 PDL season in third-place, the Whitecaps U-23 squad will hope a returning core of young talent will lead them to the top of the Northwest table as they look to dethrone the defending conference champion Highlanders. Whitecaps 2013 leading scorer Niall Cousens returns for another season after leading his team with eight goals and four assists during last summer’s campaign. Vancouver’s offense should also receive a boost as they welcome former Highlander Brett Levis to the fold for the upcoming season.
“I know the roster they’ll draw from,” said Highlanders head coach Steve Simonson. “Specific players that will play is obviously something we won’t know until game time but they are going to have a good side with a lot of talent and a lot of offensive threats for sure, so we’ll have to be prepared for that.”
Vancouver and Victoria opened last season’s three-game series with a 3-2 victory in Vancouver before engaging in a shootout at Royal Athletic Park, with the ‘Caps outlasting the Highlanders in an eventful 5-3 shootout. Victoria’s Jordie Hughes earned a brace, while Levis added the third goal for Victoria. Whitecaps Cousens, Aminu Abdallah, Gagandeep Dosanjh and Harry Lakhan posted goals for Vancouver. In the second tilt between the two sides, both teams shored up on defence, playing to a 1-1 draw off goals from Levis and Whitecap Sasa Plavsic. As a result, Vancouver captured the Juan de Fuca Plate for the second-straight season.
The Highlanders recently filled out their roster for the season, signing Mid-Isle Highlander and Vancouver Island University midfielder Jordan Degraaf, University of Victoria Vike Dominic Colontonio and Highlander development products Jyotish Khanna, Callum Montgomery and Hamish Walde. Together for just a couple weeks, the team recently completed their fourth and final exhibition match in Vancouver in anticipation of the upcoming season.
“Definitely each game we’ve gotten more with comfortable with each other,” said Simonson. "We’ve worked on different elements of our game, focusing on possession, outright attack and placing good focus on defensive shape—it’s all going really well.”
The 2014 PDL season kicks off Sunday at 2 p.m. PT at Royal Athletic Park against Whitecaps FC U-23. It is also marks the first game of the home-and-home Juan de Fuca Plate series. For tickets, please call 250-590-8432 and visit www.victoriahighlandersfc.com.