So much for the regular-season standings.
Sunday at the Northern Sport Centre fieldhouse, site of the B.C. Indoor Soccer League playoffs, a pair of men's Division 1 semifinal games ended in upsets. The biggest was provided by fourth-seeded Simba Motors, which defeated top-ranked Michael's Jewellers 1-0.
In the other semi, third-seeded Global Elite and second-ranked Falcons FC were tied 3-3 after regulation time and Global prevailed in a shootout.
In Simba's victory, midfielder Sukhan Sapun scored the only goal. His marker, a low shot from close range that slipped under goalkeeper Jonathan Richards, was the finishing touch on some pretty passing.
"We worked very good as a team," Sapun said of his club's unexpected win. "That's soccer -- it's all about teamwork. Sometimes you get frustrated and you have to keep your head in the game."
In the regular season, Michael's compiled a 12-4-1 record, while Simba went 5-11-1. Going into the semifinal, Simba hadn't beaten Michael's all year. A strong defensive effort, great goaltending by Cale Rusnell and Sapun's opportunistic strike made the difference.
"We kind of scrapped one out," said Simba midfielder Brian McLaughlin. "We passed the ball well. We took our time in the back and took advantage of the few chances we had."
Rusnell, who isn't even a regular goalie, was tested often by Michael's shooters and was fully deserving of the shutout.
Arnold Ngabo of Michael's said his team didn't show up to play.
"Some of us were walking a bit," he said. "It just seemed that we didn't have the urgency we usually have in our games.
"We just couldn't finish," Ngabo added. "We took a lot of shots. Most of them were on the net but the shots weren't going where we needed them to go. [Rusnell] is not even their normal goalie. He's one of their regular players that had to step up and he made some key saves."
Global, the other semifinal winner, ended the regular schedule at 5-9-3 while Falcons FC finished with a mark of 12-4-1.
Simba and Global will play in the championship game this coming Sunday at 5 p.m. at the NSC. Head-to-head, Global was the stronger of the two teams early in the season, while Simba enjoyed late-season success.
"We signed a few guys half way through the season because we were short on guys every game and we won our last eight games overall," McLaughlin said. "We defended better and helped our goalie out."
