Estrella de Chile remained in sole possession of first place in the Vancouver Metro Soccer League premier division following a a hard-earned 3-1 win over the visiting Norvan Pacific.
The Burnaby-based Chileans got off to a bright start and controlled most of the play in the early going, but some excellent defending on the part of Norvan's Graeme Tingey and Nathan Harte kept the vaunted Estrella attackers at bay. The visitors also created some excellent goalscoring opportunities of their own-mostly on counter-attacks by Jamie Casey, Dave Andreychuck, and Matt Hartwell.
The match remained scoreless until the 37th minute mark, when Eric Ray slipped a through ball to a streaking Admir Salihovic who beat an offside trap and slotted the ball past Norvan goalkeeper Giancarlo Martino at Burnaby Lake Sports Complex-West last Friday.
Salihovic scored what proved to be the game-winner with his second of the game in the 55th minute, coverting a great cross from Chris English in clinical fashion.
Norvan did not give up and fought back tenaciously, pinning Chile in its own end at one point before putting four clear-cut chances in rapid succession at the net.
Matt Hartwell, Alex Wilson and JimYung Oh, with a pair of opportunities, had their close-range shots either saved by goalkeeper Diego Oliveira or cleared off the line by defender Josh Hardy.
Norvan was finally able to score in the 75th minute when Matt Hartwell converted a fine cross from Sebastian Crema with a wicked left-footed volley that gave Oliveira no chance.
At this point, Norvan Pacific threw caution to the wind and started attacking furiously in search of the equalizer. The Chileans took advantage of the situation and with five minutes remaining in the contest put the match out of reach with Ray sending another excellent through ball onto a flying Salihovic, who raced in on goal and calmly slotted the ball into the back of the Norvan net for the insurance marker and his hat trick.
Salihovic, a former Burnaby Royals Metro youth star, was later named the Metro league player of the week. Also, defender Narcisse Tchoumi and midfielder Eric Ray contributed immensely to their Chilean team's hard-earned victory. The victory solidifies Estrella de Chile's hold on first place, with an admirable 7-0-1 record, while Norvan Pacific slipped to 10th, with 7 points from 7 games.
