Springfield, Oregon – After clinching the Northwest division during their first bye week of the 2018 season, Calgary Foothills FC continued right were it left off with another victory to kick off their two game road trip in Oregon.  Foothills put together another dominant performance with a 4-0 victory over a Lane United FC squad that had only lost once in its last eight matches before Friday night.  

“After a bye-week it was a good way to get back in action with a four-goal win on the road vs an in-form Lane United, stretching our winning run to 5 in a row scoring 17 and conceding only 3 in the process.” commented Foothills FC Head Coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr

“We started a bit rusty, but in fairness that was to be expected given we’d had a bye-week last week and facing a Lane United side that we had tied the last 4 times we had played them. Once we got into our groove again we showed the confidence and conviction that has won us the division title again.”

Foothills FC kicked off the scoring after a slow start to the game in the 23rd minute with a goal from University of Alberta product Ajeej Sarkaria for his third on the campaign after a pass from team assist leader Nico Pasquotti.  The half ended 1-0 with neither team able to beat the keepers to find the back of the net.  

The second half would be a different story as Coach Wheeldon made an early second half substitution that paid off immediately. Carlos Patino entered the game in the 56th minute and scored the teams second goal only a few minutes later in the 61st minute to extend the lead.  The substitute Patino proved a difference maker in the match as he also assisted the final two goals scored by Ali Musse and Tofa Fakunle in the 84th and 85th minutes respectively to seal the victory.  

Coach Wheeldon was impressed by the teams ability to score even without the NW Division’s leading scorer Moses Danto in the lineup for the match, “What pleased me was that we rotated the squad slightly and we had four different scorers (Sarkaria, Patino, Musse, Fakunle) and another clean sheet for the back line”

The team has continued its solid play at the back and earned the teams 6th clean sheet on the season and allowing a Western Conference low 7 goals in 12 games.  Full back Dean Northover is one of the main reasons for the teams defensive success, his experience in the league (a 4 year veteran of the team and the team’s most experienced PDL player) has proven to be an invaluable asset to the squad this season.  

Northover was pleased with the teams performance on the night, “It was another good team performance tonight, the boys are working really hard for each other and we’re being rewarded for it too.  This is great for the momentum as we finish off the season and head off to the Western Conference Finals in two weeks”.

Foothills FC has clinched its spot in the Western Conference Finals (July 20-22) which will pit the 3 Western Division Champions and best runner up against each other in semi-finals on Friday night and the Conference final on Sunday night to determine the Conference Champion.  The location for the Conference Finals has not been determined.  

Foothills FC continues its road trip through Oregon this weekend, with its next match on Sunday afternoon at 2pm (PDT) vs the Portland Timbers U23.  You can watch the game online at https://www.uslpdl.com/game/show/20627430

The team wraps up the regular season with its final home game of the season with a NW Division Championship Celebration on Saturday, July 14th vs Seattle Sounders U23.  Tickets are available online at www.foothillsfc.ca or at the gate.