NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
Blair Lukacs, of the Earls Phantoms, scores one of his three goals in A 5-3 victory over the Alleycat Angels in the City Cup final at the Methanex Bowl, Sunday, Aug. 19, 2018.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com @MHNMcCracken
After taking home the title the Medicine Hat Senior Men’s Outdoor Soccer League, the Earls Phantoms had just one trophy left to win — and they hoisted into the air on Sunday night at the Methanex Bowl.
Blair Lukacs potted a hat trick and Brendan Lutz and Ryan Antsey both added individual markers to secure a 5-3 victory over the Alleycat Angels in the City Cup final — a season-long tournament celebrating its 41st year.
“It feels good,” said Phantoms’ Tyler McFetridge. “It’s a long season and we won the regular season trophy, but the work wasn’t done. We wanted this second trophy for sure.
“It was a good team effort all around.”
While the Phantoms managed to hang onto a lead for the majority of the contest, the Angels kept within striking distance until the final whistle — with goals from Johnny Keohane, Albert Muslieu and Pietro de Andrade — despite playing the entire game without a substitute. The Phantoms were able to lean on four.
“The subs definitely made a big difference,” said Angels goalkeeper Devin Simon. “I think if we would have had a couple more guys — we’re mostly a college team and I lost most of the players going back to college and lots to injury.”
Lutz added the Phantoms were expecting a strong push from the Angels — who feature a number of players from the Medicine Hat College Rattlers squad — but they were able to capitalize on their chances and seize the double title.
“They’re young and they can run, and we’re well-aged,” said Lutz. “So we knew we were going to have to chase them a lot but we knew we had to play just a little bit smarter to combat that.”
