Highlanders at Home in Royal Athletic
Posted on: Saturday, July 9, 2011
The Victoria Highlanders get set to make their PDL debut at historic Royal Athletic Park in downtown Victoria Saturday night with a date versus the pesky North Sound SeaWolves. Game time is 7:30pm, July 9th at RAP. Also, the Highlanders have announced that, the Club will be giving away a FREE 40" TV at each RAP home match for the rest of the 2011 season!
The North Sound SeaWolves have been a tough test for the Victoria club so far this season, as the Seattle based side won their first two meetings by 2-1 and 2-0 scores respectively, the first of which, came in a pre-season friendly held at Bear Mountain Stadium. The Highlanders, currently sitting in second place in the division and occupying the final playoff spot in the Northwest, will be looking to even up the season series with a win at Royal Athletic Park, all but eliminating North Sound from this year’s playoff picture. Both teams are in the hunt for the final playoff spot behind league leaders Kitsap Pumas.
To mark the occassion of moving into Royal Athletic Park for the stretch drive, the clan will be the back end of a soccer double header featuring the Pacific Coast League Victoria United taking on rivals Surrey United (4pm) in another important playoff matchup. Local fans will have the opporutunity to take in both games for the price of a PDL match. (Assigned seats $20 and General Admission $15-Adult; $12-Senior/Studen and $10-Youth).
“The Highlanders would like to acknowledge and thank the City of Victoria and Royal Athletic staff for their tremendous commitment to prepare the park for our final stretch drive to our first ever playoff appearance”, GM Drew Finerty said in the media conference to officially announce the downtown venue for the remainder of the 2011 season. “We also could not have made this move possible without the continued cooperation of our good friends from Victoria United who agreed to alter their schedule to allow us to meet the USL standards for game day presentation. In return, we are pleased to offer soccer fans in the city the opportunity to see both local teams play on the same day as we feature a United PCSL game double header on July 9th (vs Surrey United) and 16th (vs Mid-Isle Highlanders) starting at 4pm prior to the Highlanders kickoff at 7:30pm.”
“We have worked very closely with the Highlanders from the very start of their history more than 3 years ago,” commented Victoria United Secretary-Treasurer Bill Anderson. “With the movement of players, joint promotions, cooperation in setting our own schedules, coaching assistance, and of course our Annual Charity Shield match held for the third time this year, our two organizations have jointly raised the profile and level of soccer in the Greater Victoria area,” he said.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for Victoria soccer fans to see the top two teams in town playing hard to join the post-season action in their respective leagues. We hope that both weekend double-headers provide exciting soccer action for our fans.”
Some of the features fans will see right away are free parking in the lot adjacent to the stadium on Caledonia (first come first served), additional food and beverage kiosks, pitch re-location and the same great family entertainment that have become a part of every Highlanders game day, including a 40" TV given away at every home game in July.
The Highlanders enter this evening's match knowing their rivals from Portland lost 2-1 Friday night to the Abbotsford Mariners who have now fought their way into the playoff picture with their road win. The Vancouver Whitecaps Residency scored in the 89th minute to win 2-1 in Tacoma Friday to pull into a tie with Victoria, three points up on the Timbers and Abby, while the SeaWolves are one back of them with 16 points. The Whitecaps play in Portland Sunday afternoon as the tables get tighter by the match.
The Highlanders start the second half home schedule on natural grass at Royal Athletic Park tonight and then face Portland next Saturday and close out the 2011 season with a monster double header weekend on the 23rd against red-hot Northwest Division leaders Kitsap Pumas (10-0-2) and then the finale on Sunday the 24th when the resurgent Mariners come across the strait for the league wrap-up. "There are no easy games the rest of the way, commented GM Drew Finerty, and every match will be the next most important game in our season,, and quite possibly, our history as we strive to reach our goal of making the PDL playoffs for the first time."
Also, PDL Men’s RAP-Pak’s are now on sale. Prices are $75 (Premium Seats), $55 (General Admission Adult seats), $42 (General Admission Senior/Student seats) and $35 (General Admission Youth Seats)The RAP-Pak can be purchased at the club’s office at #108-1913 Sooke Rd or by calling 250-590-8432.
