Pioneers Pump Six Past Mission

Mission 1 Richmond Pioneers 6. The Pioneers completed their two game eastern road trip with a comfortable victory over Mission on Sunday, highlighted by hat-tricks from both John Tsang and Ken Johnston.

Despite a grueling drive, the Pioneers quickly settled into the game and opened the scoring when a Herb Lanz pass was cleverly deflected by Jim Fitzgerald to John Tsang, who calmly drove the ball past the Mission goalkeeper. Mission had a number of shots on goal, including one that brushed the crossbar, but keeper Dave Valitis was rarely troubled, as the Pioneers defense was in an uncompromising mood.

Pioneers leading marksman Ken Johnston added a second Pioneer goal midway through the first half, a goal not unlike Tsang's earlier strike, and the Pioneers were unfortunate not to extend the lead before the half.

In the second half, the Pioneers' good running and intelligent movement in the final third of the field was creating many chances, and Johnston and Tsang were firing on all cylinders as they both completed their hat tricks with some sublime finishing. A momentary defensive collapse denied Valitis his shutout, as Mission scored a late consolation goal.

A good, controlled performance by Richmond, and Tsang's hat-trick brought his tally to an impressive 9 goals in the past 6 games.

Next game. Back to the friendly confines of McMath this week, as the Pioneers put their unbeaten home record on the line against the star-studded Playmakers International.

Christmas Dinner. The Pioneers annual team Christmas Dinner is to be held on Saturday Dec 21st at the Richmond Inn, at 7:00pm.

Viva Las Vegas. Mike is taking a team to a Las Vegas Over 48 tournament on Jan 18 to Jan 20, 2003. Contact Mike or John Tsang if you are interested.

Here's the Pioneers team photo taken before the third place game against Cliff Avenue in the Penticton Tournament.