Foothills FC wasn’t going to let its second chance at a title in three years slip away.
Ali Musse scored twice, Nico Pasquotti notched the game winner in extra-time as Foothills doubled up the host Reading United 4-2 to win the Premier Development League championship for the first time, Saturday night in Pennsylvania, two years after finishing as runner-ups in the 74-team league.
“That fear of disappointment again drove us to win,” said Foothills FC defensive midfielder Elijah Adekugbe. “There are seven core guys from that 2016 team that went through that and that was one of the worst feelings personally I’ve had in my career.
“Just that fear drove us to work hard and to really make sure this time around we did everything humanly possible to win.”
Those efforts were given a huge boost early as Foothills found itself on the scoreboard inside 12 minutes.
Musse unleashed a powerful free-kick from 30 yards out, careening off the crossbar and into the net.
Foothills’ trademark high press was extremely effective in the early going with Musse and fellow forwards Nico Pasquotti and Willy Akio putting Reading under duress.
“The coaches prepared us on how they like to play, how they like to buildup from the back,” Adekugbe said. “We had to force their centre backs into positions we thought they would be uncomfortable in, force turnovers and create space in behind that we could exploit with the pace we do have.
“In the first 15 minutes we started with a lot of energy and with the heat, the conditions we were playing under it was hard to keep that pace up.”
Reading was able to creep back into the game and found itself even at the break.
Aaron Molloy, the imposing figure in the centre of midfield, showed why he’s the PDL’s top ranked prospect with a terrific free-kick goal to even the score at the end of the half.
“At halftime one of messages was this is my last halftime speech, it’s been an incredible journey and let’s make it memorable and not forgettable,” said Foothills FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. “If we lose we’re going to want to forget about it, if we win it’s etched in the history books as a championship winning side.”
The hosts found themselves in front when substitute Kieran Roberts won a header in the box in the 79th minute.
Foothills got an opening minutes later when Reading centre-back Kamal Miller was sent-off after receiving his second yellow card.
They quickly made good on the numerical advantage.
Centre back Dominick Zator showed a striker’s touch, controlling the ball with his chest and volleying a curling strike into the far corner in the 85th minute.
“Zat did it two years ago in our Western Conference final against Tucson and we had a great run that year,” Adekugbe said. “When Zat scores a volley like that you just know good things are going to happen.”
Extra-time would be needed, but not before more dramatics.
Foothills left back Chris Serban was handed a straight red card for a late tackle in the 96th minute, making it a 10-versus-10 contest in the 30-minute extra-time.
“As soon as went to 90 minutes, the boys came in and I could see their eyes were lit up, they were hungry,” the coach added. “They were expecting something totally tactical from me in the break and I stopped, paused, smiled at them and said ‘boys, let’s enjoy it.’ They started nodding, smiling and I knew at that moment I had to keep making sure they were enjoying it and playing with freedom.”
The visitors found a second wind in overtime and unsurprisingly the tireless Pasquotti stepped into the forefront with the left-footed game winner in the 119th minute.
Musse added his second of the contest a minute later on a feed from substitute Tofa Fakunle.
“It’s definitely all the work we did in pre-season,” Adekugbe said. “Credit to the coaching staff, they worked us so hard. There were so many times when the players were complaining that it was too much, but at the end of the day they were right.
“Once you get past the 80th minute, tactics take a backseat to will, determination, courage, perseverance.”
Foothills is just the fourth Canadian team in the 24-year history of the PDL to take the championship and the first since KW United in 2015.
Canadian pride undoubtedly played a part in the victory.
“This league is favoured a bit more to the Americans,” Adekugbe said.
“There’s always that thought ‘they’re just a Canadian team, we’ll see how they do against our American boys.’ As we got further and further in the playoffs, people were saying to do it for your country, do it for Canada and show them we’re more than the noisy neighbours, that we’re really here to compete, to dominate and to win.”
The match was the perfect send-off for Wheeldon Jr.
The magnanimous skipper is moving on to the Canadian Premier League’s Cavalry FC and is expected to take a good crop of the Foothills FC talent with him to the professional ranks.
Wheeldon Jr.’s longtime assistant Leon Hapgood will be taking the reins with Foothills FC as its head coach going forward.
“It’s a movie in the making isn’t it,” Wheeldon Jr. said. “We set a mission to bring pro soccer back and we’ve achieved that by helping Spruce Meadows create the Cavalry and now to be able to sign off as a champion in the final project with Calgary Foothills is remarkable.”
In four short years in the PDL, Foothills evolved from competitive to contender to champion.
“We’ve seen how much this program has grown and developed and all the work that’s been put into to make this a successful team,” Adekugbe said. “The first year, an exhibition season, second year we had three wins, third year we had that storied run, last year didn’t quite achieve those heights.
“Every single year the coaches and the club have added something to make us more professional and propel us to the next level.”
