Seeking the franchise's first win, the Prince George Fury have reached out to new talent.
The Fury, the city's debut indoor soccer team that is part of the Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League, has yet to find success in four games -- two at home, two on the road.
The hope is that by adding Tyler Wood, a local product who has been playing in Victoria, to the mix this weekend, the Fury will replace the donut in the 'W' column with a digit. The Wenatchee Fire, who beat the Fury twice in the Washington city a week ago, are at CN Centre for games Saturday (2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.).
Even though Wood does not yet appear on the roster portion of the team website, the 23-year-old Duchess Park graduate will be looked to for additional offence.
"This is going to be exciting, and I'm glad to be back," said Wood.
Wood, who was born in Prince George, played one season of college soccer for Thompson Rivers University. He was also a member of the Prince George FC squad that faced the Edmonton Drillers two years ago in a two-day event tabbed 'Soccer Showcase.'
"I needed a change of atmosphere so I went down and played a better of level of soccer in Victoria, where my mom lives," he said.
"It was a good move and I was working full-time as a paver. But I'm excited to be back for this, it looks like a lot of fun. Playing in the Showcase was very interesting, and I'm excited to see what the league has to offer."
Wood's addition gives the team 24 players, including player/coach Sipho Sibiya. All have local roots of some kind, but Sibiya is able to dress just 13 per game. Sibiya plans to use Wood in the position of 'target' -- centre forward.
"He's going to add something, strength and scoring punch, and we can move some people around to their more natural positions," Sibiya said of the six-foot-one, 180-pound Wood.
"We can move Matt Mehrassa back to midfield and could use some other options from there as well."
Wood said he's surprised the Fury haven't won a game yet, judging by what he sees in practice.
"We just have to keep plugging away, and everyone seems pretty intense going into this weekend," said Wood. "Everyone wants to earn their spot (in the lineup). The guys want to win and prove to everyone that they are able to play at this level."
