Blown shot
Missed penalty kick costs Mustangs
By CAMERON MAXWELL, CALGARY SUN
A cold, wet and miserable afternoon pretty much mirrored how Conrad Smith felt yesterday. The Calgary Mustangs striker missed a second-half penalty shot that would have put his team up 2-1 but, in the end, the Mustangs fell by that score against the Vancouver Whitecaps at McMahon Stadium in A-League soccer action.
With the game knotted 1-1 and Calgary applying pressure, Vancouver's Steve Kindel got flagged in the 67th minute for a hand ball in the box.
Smith took the shot but the effort was weak and easily saved by 'Caps 'keeper Mike Franks, who handled the low offering by falling to his left.
"I think I rushed it too much. I should have relaxed myself a little bit and that's what I was most disappointed with," said Smith, a 22-year-old from Trinidad and Tobago.
"As you can see, I didn't really get a good shot off and it's disappointing."
Mustangs defender Jamie Auvigne got his club on the board first, converting a nice give-and-go with Zdravko Savic and blasting a low, curling shot past Franks from 10 yards out in the 10th minute.
The Whitecaps (3-0-1) evened it up with a controversial penalty shot goal, 41 minutes in, from Carlo Corazzin after Calgary's Conrad Chala was flagged on a phantom pulling the shirt call by referee Gerry Procter, who is from Vancouver.
Morris scored the game-winner for Vancouver in the 74th minute. Calgary (0-4-1) looks for its first win today in Seattle.
