The U-18 Storm rep boys soccer team, most of whom have been playing together for the past six seasons, are off to a fantastic start to their final season together. Five games into this final season and the team remains undefeated, with four wins and one draw. Playing in Division 1, that is quite the achievement.
The boys have beaten some really strong teams this season, including last year’s top team in their division, which they beat in a thrilling 2-1 comeback win two weeks ago out in Port Moody, a game in which Max Joe scored two beautiful goals.
Then this past Saturday, facing the VUFC Hammers, they did it again, coming back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to win 4-2. But this time they did it in front of a large contingent of excited and very entertained hometown fans at Brothers Park in Gibsons.
After squandering numerous chances throughout the first half, the Storm found themselves behind 1-0 at halftime after the Hammers scored on the final play of the half. But that only inspired the boys to come out with extra energy to start the second half and, within six minutes, the Storm had tied up the game.
The Hammers retook the lead soon after, but then the Storm really turned it on, scoring three fantastic goals in 20 minutes to take a 4-2 lead, which they protected until the final whistle.
Max Joe once again scored two goals this week, with Kaishan Nonacowie scoring the other two.
All four goals were beautiful, but soccer is of course a team sport and this win, like all the others this season, was a full team effort, with everyone on the squad playing their hearts out and putting in a great performance.
The team defense, including all-star keeper Duncan Service and holding midfield superstar Krystof Krutsky, has once again been stellar this season, while the midfield has been driven by the brilliant play of Taiyo Blackwell, who has played almost every minute of the season so far.
What’s been really impressive is that the team has been doing so well, not with a large number of boys to choose from, like the city teams have, but, rather, with just 13 players on the roster, one of whom came back this season after five years away from soccer and one who just moved to the Sunshine Coast and had never played Division 1 soccer before. The team has also had to call on three members of the U-17 Storm to play up with them for a couple of games when they’ve been short, and those three boys have really embraced the challenge of playing at a higher level and have played some great soccer for the older team.
So, going into the Tiering Week, the U-18 Storm find themselves tied for second place in their 19-team division... and that is, simply put, pretty darn awesome! They’re hoping to keep this run going when regular league games resume in early-November and they’re also hoping their hometown fans will continue to show up to cheer them on whenever they have future home games.
