EDC BC Burnaby A is charging hard for a playoff finish in the Vancouver Metro Soccer League.
EDC moved up two within two points of third place following a 4-2 victory over second-place ICST Pegasus at Burnaby Lake-West on Friday.
Rizal Ganief, with his eighth goal of the season, and Simon Fraser University freshman Michael North scored first-half markers, while Ylya Malek and Parker Ellis of Burnaby counted single markers in the final half for the Estrella de Chile club.
Chile gave up the game’s first goal in the opening minute but gained possession and dominated play until goalkeeper Christian Zimmerman had to leave the game with an injury.
Starting centre midfielder Chris Kydd took over between the sticks for EDC.
The win moved Chile into a three-way tie for fifth place in the 12-team premier men’s division with Langley FC and Coquitlam Metro-Ford, all with identical records of 7-8-4. The three clubs sit just a point behind both Richmond and Inter FC for third spot.
The win was Chile’s third in the last four matches, which included a 4-1 loss to first-place West Van FC at home earlier in the month.
The difference in the month of January has been a pickup of younger players from Simon Fraser University, said head coach and club president Claudio Ramirez.
“We are finally scoring at a clip that correlates to the amount of opportunities we create more reasonably,” said Ramirez.
North, Ellis and Zimmerman are three of the university players that are having a “massive impact” on the team and particularly on the scoresheet, Ramirez added.
“We have a lot of depth suddenly coming from the bench and it’s starting to translate to wins,” he said.
Given this month’s mostly positive results, Ramirez is hopeful Chile will continue to push for a top-four finish in league play, go for an extended run in Imperial Cup play and ultimately achieve the team goal of a spot in the Provincial Cup.
EDC has two key matchups still left in regular season play with Inter FC and Croatia SC, which handed the Chileans a 5-1 loss – its’ worst defeat of the season to date.
“We will need to be very strategic and diligent in our preparation for these games as they will be the determining points in finishing top 3 or bottom 4,” Ramirez said.
Chile begins preliminary round play in the Imperial Cup this Saturday at Confederation turf against second-place Division 1 Norvan A at 1:30 p.m.
