A rainbow came out for our entire last practice at the old Halifax West school – the pot of gold thing just stuck in my head,” said team captain Mike Hasiuk. “It felt like maybe this was finally our destiny.” Later that week, on Thanksgiving Monday, a team some felt had perhaps missed its chance at national glory battled poor weather, early starts, shortened games and injuries to nab Nova Scotia’s first Canadian soccer championship at any level with a resounding 4-1 victory over B.C .- based Victoria Gorge FC in the final. Several former King of Donair (KOD) stars that helped build the club into a provincial dynasty-including George Kyreakakos, Tony Pigniatello, Geoff Axell, Jeff Farquhar and Louie Kioyo – watched the historic game from the sidelines. 

A pair of goals by Trevor Reddick put the Nova Scotia champs up 2-0 at halftime. Hasiuk, who originally joined KOD in 1990, and Idris Mert added second half goals against a powerful B.C. club that was undefeated with no goals allowed in its four previous games. Reddick paid tribute to his teammates, but also offered kudos to those who contributed support in various capacities over the years. 

“To see so many former players and supporters crying after we won really made it hit home how hard a lot of people had worked for this one special moment,” said Reddick. “That team will go down as the most successful KOD soccer team in history. I feel very proud about that.” Added Hasiuk: “So much of how we prepared and what we learned came from all the players before us. It was a surreal experience.” Reaching the pinnacle of the Canadian senior men’s soccer club mountain, of course, had its challenges. Reddick scored a 90th-minute goal against P.E.I. to maintain gold medal aspirations and KOD needed a three-goal margin of victory against Saskatchewan and responded with a four-goal win. A freak snowstorm in an earlier round robin game prompted a move to an indoor field and had many players scrambling for proper footwear. “We were ready on every level, from the water bottles to management, but the weather really threw a wrench into the mix,” said Hasiuk. “It was a bit of a scramble.” Provincially, Tony Eghan and George Iatrou coached the club to an 11-0-3 record and first-place tie (extending KOD’s regular season undefeated string to 62 games) to earn a bye into the two-game, total-goal final against archrival Dunbrack. After a 2-2 draw in the opener, KOD won the second match 2-0 for a 4-2 aggregate victory. Mesut Mert was co-winner of the Golden Boot award and a league all-star. Reddick, Jay Robinson, Tim Mullen and Idris Mert also cracked the all-star roster. George Athanasiou, Nick Garonis and Takis Mitropoulos founded KOD soccer club in 1983. By the time the club folded in 2002, KOD had reached 20 straight provincial finals (including 11 titles), won four medals at nationals (gold, 2001; silver, 1995; bronze, 1994 and 2002) and ranked third in a 2008 Canadian Soccer Association report listing the most successful club teams of all time. “We figured we could win a national title within the first five years, but it was harder than we thought,” said Athanasiou, CEO of Soccer Nova. Scotia. “A few teams had knocked on the door, but that 2001 championship was historic and a source of great gratitude. It was special.”

Bio courtesy of Chris Kallan

Members of the 2001 team included the following: Mike Hasiuk, Tim Mullen, Carl MacGillivray, Dzevad Imocanin, Colin March, Jay Robinson, Ian Clark, Ewen Lyttle, Mesut Mert, Vinnie Mert, Blake Geddis, Rob Adams, Trevor Reddick, Gray Zurheide, Mike Brabent, Brian Wishart, Dan Fournier, Glen Sullivan, Peter Lawrence, Mark Gardiner, Eduardo Farias, Tim Stephenson, and coaches George Iatrou and Tony Eghan, along with managers Angelo Cianfaglione and Mourad Farid, and sponsor Vagelli Panopalis.