After scoring seven goals in two road games to open the season, Vancouver Victory FC will play its first home match of the Evergreen Premier League season at 2 p.m. on Sunday at McKenzie Stadium.
Bellingham United (0-2) will be the opponent for the first of two May home matches for the Victory, an amateur men’s soccer team of current and former college players.
Tickets cost $7.
“The team is playing pretty well right now,” coach Aaron Lewis said.
One challenge is the fluid roster of EPLWA teams. For example, several members of the Oregon State men’s soccer program are expected to join Vancouver beginning this weekend.
“We’re kind of putting things together on the fly, so to get positive results while still figuring things out is nice,” Lewis said.
Evergreen High School graduate Timur Zhividze has scored a league-leading three goals.
“He’s just really quick in his movements and when he gets his opportunities he seems to find corners,” Lewis said.
“It is a great team I’m playing on and the people around me are just as good as I am if not better,” Zhividze said. “It’s easy to play when you have good players around you.”
Ian Farley, a Spokane native who played college soccer at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore., scored twice in last weekend’s win in Bremerton over the Olympic Force.
Lewis, the men’s soccer head coach at Corban University in Salem, said the Victory has been good on the attack and has had more possession in its first two league games.
“We’ve had the ball more than our opponents and that’s kind of part of our identity that fans will see when they come out,” Lewis said.
Among the players expected to join the Victory this week is Tracy Hasson, a former Oregon State midfielder who played on the Portland Timbers under-23 team that won the 2010 Premier Development League national championship.
Zhividze said he plans to transfer from Concordia in Portland to play for Lewis at Corban University where he will be a junior. Zhividze said he is thankful to Victory FC owner Barrett Goddard for bringing a team to Vancouver and giving him and others a chance to play the sport they love.
Mother’s Day promotion — Goddard said the first 100 “soccer moms” who attend Sunday’s match will receive a rose.
