One of the youngest teams in the 31-year history of the St. Albert Men's Soccer League celebrated its first playoff cup victory Sunday.
CSKA Blues FC scored twice before the 17th minute mark and controlled most of the match to edge SA United 2-1 at Riel Park.
"It feels real good to win the final considering it's our first season," said striker Dmitry Permyakov. "We want to continue this winning feeling."
Most of the players on the Blues have strong ties with the Paul Kane Soccer Academy. Several have tier I youth experience and played for Team Alberta.
"We're all from the same academy and we all live in St. Albert so it means a lot to win the league," said defender Max Maslovsky. "We've known each other for about eight years. We all know our positions and each other's playing styles. We all know where to be on the field."
The Blues finished third out of eight teams at 9-2-3 in their league debut. In the playoffs they went 4-0 while outscoring teams 20-2.
"It was a lot of fun because we found a lot of good competition in this league," said Maslovsky, a Grade 12 Paul Kane student.
United hung tough with the Blues but eventually ran out of gas.
"Our average age is about 10 years older," said United captain Mark Kilbride. "They're a good, young team. They will be together for a long time and hopefully we'll play them again in the final next year."
The Blues ran circles around United while showing off their vast skills.
"Our fitness level is really good because all of us train every day for the most part. We've played in different leagues for different teams and soccer academies so we're more in shape than some of these other teams," said Permyakov, a Paul Kane grad. "Some of the guys have played together for years so we have that team chemistry too."
The team's performance in the final was on par with previous efforts.
"It was one of our typical games of the season," Permyakov said. "We had pretty good teamwork. We passed a lot and had ball possession and that's how we controlled the game for the most part."
The Blues spent most of the first half on United's side of the field. United keeper Alistair Todd was tested several times as the Blues attacked the net in waves.
"We had a little bit of trouble picking up their guys in the first half. They capitalized on a free kick and we had an unlucky break on their second goal," Kilbride said.
The tiny but talented Ben Goncalves dented the post with a free kick for the Blues in the opening minutes.
In the 12th minute Goncalves gave Maslovsky a crack at the ball on a free kick and the team's enforcer nailed a shoulder-high shot past Todd.
"I was really happy about that. It was my first goal of the season," said Maslovsky, 18. "Usually Ben takes those and scores. I showed him I was wide open and he gave me the opportunity to get one in there."
Permyakov, 20, converted a two-on-one rush to make it 2-0 as Todd made the initial save without any defensive support.
"I saw one of my teammates on the left running and I decided to sprint to open up for his pass. He took a shot and the ball bounced over and I tapped it in," said Permyakov, the Blues' second leader scorer in league play with seven goals, one less than teammate Dylan Bergunder.
United pulled up its socks to cut the lead in half as Kilbride tucked the ball over keeper Stephen May and under the crossbar in the 35th minute.
"I was just coming down the middle a little bit and I thought if I could cut to the right and get a shot off that I would have a chance at a goal. I did that and it went in," said Kilbride, 26.
A few minutes earlier, United player/coach Darren Rosin was denied a goal on a free kick from in tight. The ball slammed into a wall of bodies in front of the goal line and the Blues cleared the rebound away.
Throughout an uneventful second half the Blues were never in danger of giving up the equalizer.
"We changed our formation. We were playing with four defenders and we tried to play mostly a defensive game to protect our lead," Permyakov said.
Rough play
The final was marred by a yellow card to Cam Allam of United in the 62nd minute after he sent sweeper Cole Usher sprawling with a two-handed push from behind after the ball went out of bounds. Usher landed on his shoulder and snapped his collarbone in half. The team captain was in pain for several minutes behind the goal line and was later whisked away to the hospital. He had surgery scheduled Tuesday.
United stayed in contention when Todd stopped a penalty shot in the 67th minute.
A breakaway goal by Rosin was ruled offside in the 74th minute.
Rosin and Maslovsky also traded body checks as both teams ramped up the physicality after Usher's injury. Todd also exchanged verbal darts with a spectator in the late stages as things heated up. After the game United complained bitterly about the officiating.
Late in the match, Allam was thwarted in front of May by a stellar defensive play by Ryan Parker that kept the score intact.
The loss marked the second year that United failed to win the big game. In the 2010 final Arsenal blanked United 2-0.
"It's tough making it to the final two years in a row and losing but it's still an accomplishment in our eyes," said Kilbride, a dangerous outside midfielder with the 8-7-3 United squad.
"This year we played better in the final," he said. "No disrespect to Arsenal, but these guys are a lot younger and a little bit more fit with more skill."
