On the road with the Kitsap Pumas: a win in Abbotsford on Sunday...with donuts

It's all still somewhat of a Tim Horton's coffee and donut induced sugar-coma blur, but I am pretty sure the Kitsap Pumas held on to edge the Abbotsford Mariners 2:1 today in BC in a PDL NW Division contest. Tim Horton's came before, and of course after.

A fine showing of eight Hellcats drove the trip up to support the Pumas at what is in essence a mere soccer pitch in a park with some aged bleachers on one side of it. A far cry from the scene at Bremerton Memorial Stadium indeed, but the BC boys gave the Pumas all they could handle, even after being reduced to ten men.

John Fishbaugher was the hero of the day for Kitsap, providing assists on both goals (both headers) and nearly adding one of his own late on.

I talked on Saturday about the place the Pumas were playing (Bateman Park), and it isn't a great advertisement for PDL brand soccer. Abbotsford is beautiful, but the Mariners field a team yearly as a bare bones operation to provide summer soccer for the best and oldest of their overall Abbotsford Soccer Association plan. There might have been 50 people at the match and certainly the Pumas fans were loudest and ready to be supporters.

Some of us had spent time in Abby ahead of the match. I must admit to going to Tim Horton's five times in less than three days for sandwiches, soups and of course donuts. As I said, much of it is a sugary blur.

The Pumas were without all of their international players due to border crossing issues, so the line-up was not their usual starting one. With the US Open Cup match on Tuesday night in Bremerton, goalkeeper Dustyn Brim traveled but was not played in favor of Garrett Staples.

See more from the Pumas below, and some photos from the match and from, um, yeah...Tim Horton's.

Robby Christner controls for the Pumas. He later scored Kitsap's first goal in Sunday's 2:1 win at Abbotsford. (Jenni Conner)

Kitsap Pumas Back on Winning Track, Down Mariners at Abbotsford
(Kitsap Pumas match report)
 
Abbotsford, B.C. – A week after tasting defeat for the first time, the Kitsap Pumas feasted on a familiar opponent to get their season back on track.

The starting forward tandem of Robby Christner and Tye Perdido tallied goals to lead the Pumas past the Abbotsford Mariners for the second time in three weeks, earning a 2-1 victory Sunday afternoon at Bateman Park in Abbotsford, B.C.

With the win, Kitsap (6-1-0) avenged last week’s 3-0 loss against the Portland Timbers U23, in a sense, and gained momentum leading into the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, which begins Tuesday.

“We are getting back into a rhythm,” said midfielder John Fishbaugher, who assisted both Kitsap goals. “Now we have a great opportunity. It will be like a whole new season Tuesday because nothing we’ve done up to this point will matter.”

Christner and the other Pumas goalscorer, Tye Perdido. (Jenni Conner)

What may have mattered most Sunday was Fishbaugher’s passing. Both his assists came off free kicks in the first half, resulting in goals for Christner in the 24th-minute and Perdido in the 31st.

Christner broke the scoreless tie when he converted Fishbaugher’s cross off a free kick from about 30 yards out on the right wing sending a header over traffic into the upper-right corner of the goal. It was his third goal of the season.

Perdido put the Pumas up 2-0 less than 15 minutes later, finding the back of the net on a header off another Fishbaugher cross off a free kick, this time from the left wing.

“Give all the credit to the forwards,” said Fishbaugher, who looked sharp in his first start in three weeks. “I just put the ball in the box and they made great finishes.”

Kitsap defender Steve Mohn. (Jenni Conner)

Abbotsford cut the lead in half on a bang-bang play in the 43rd-minute.

Spencer Schmidt beat Kitsap goalkeeper Garrett Staples, sending a shot across the box into the left corner of the net with a low strike.
That ended the scoring for both teams, who played two weeks ago in Bremerton in a game the Pumas won 4-1.

“Garrett didn’t have much of a chance on that,” Fewing said. “It was a nice strike.”

Now, Kitsap has one day to prepare for Tuesday’s Open Cup match against the Bay Area Ambassadors FC, a San Francisco-based amateur club.

Staples, a first-year player, received his first start of the season against the Mariners and Fewing didn’t rule out the possibility of him starting against the Ambassadors, too.

The Pumas qualified for the Open Cup last year in the club's first year of existence, but were eliminated in a 3-0 loss to the Porland Timbers of the USL First Division.

Jamel Wallace. (Jenni Conner)