SURREY – The soccer fields in Surrey were packed with the biggest soccer tournament in British Columbia last weekend with the Surrey Mayor’s Cup. Teams from all over BC, Yukon, Alberta and US took part in over 597 matches that covered every imaginable pitch from Delta, White Rock, Cloverdale and Surrey.
The only representative in the U 17 Boys division from Burnaby was SBMC’s Burnaby FC. Marred by many injuries throughout the season the boys battled and played short in many games. Nevertheless, they managed to have a pretty successful season.
Now with the regular season just having ended most of the team is healed up and their success at the tournament showed their true potential. In a highly competitive division they won three matches and lost one. The loss, to Kelowna, come from a penalty kick.
“Our goalie made a run at the ball, got the ball first and the attacker fell over him after. Unfortunately, the ref (wrongly) awarded a penalty kick,” said team captain Hitkaran Johal.
Still their gifted goalie, Anthony Matkovic, who led Burnaby Central to the Provincial championship made the save but the rebound was put in by the running player. Even though he was halfway down he nearly caught the second one.
“I was ready to make the save but instead of shooting he lobbed it over me,” said Matkovic.
The match was exciting to the final whistle as Burnaby had three corner kicks in the final minutes and nearly scored several times. Even their goalie went in to attempt a score. A tie or win could have given Burnaby first place. Unfortunately for Burnaby, the one goal by Kelowna was all they needed and with that they won the tournament.
Captain Johal provided the leadership on their successful journey back to the top and was awarded the MVP for one of the matches.
The Boys will get another chance to show their stuff and get victory next weekend at the SBMC Annual Soccer Tournament being held in Burnaby March 20-22.
