Beautiful sunny weather in Sechelt and snow at Shirley Macey Park presented a few problems for soccer on the Coast last weekend.
The U12 girls' game was cancelled because of the snow, as were some of the games in the men's and women's leagues.
The U14 boys sliver division Celtics found out at the last moment that their opponent was to play our boys here and also had a cup game in Vancouver, so Celtics had a bye. Such were some of the weird events to create confusion.
The U14 girls Scorpions took on the Burnaby Blacks in a league cup semifinal and had their defence on its game.
The Blacks were limited to only one shot on goal all game, yet the score was 0-0 at regulation time. A 20-minute overtime saw Scorpions find the answer as Candace Veale took Tianna Storvold's header from a free kick, rattled the ball off the post and then put the rebound into the net.
It's nice to see Candace break her scoring drought. The defence did the rest and Scorpions moved on to the final. Natasha Wells played every minute and "played an awesome game" as described by coach Dave Hargreaves. That's the third time this year that our girls put the Blacks down with a 1-0 score. On Sunday, a tired Scorpions team went to West Vancouver.
Goalkeeper Gurveen Claire stepped up and carried the load after a relatively easy game the day before.
Continued strong play by the defence and a strong game by Gurveen set the stage for the forwards to do their thing. Rachel Hargreaves nailed a penalty shot for one and Tianna nailed another as our weary girls came away with a 2-0 win. Scorpions are in contention for the league cup, the league championship (they're on top now) and the provincial cup.
They play Squamish Sunday in the North Shore District final at Cliff Gilker.
The U14 gold division SC United boys played West Van Spuraways in the first round of the provincial cup.
Our lads hammered West Van last time out, but this time they played a clunker. Despite strong games by defender Stuart Richey and midfielder Nelson Troup, United just had no spirit and went down 1-0 to a team they normally would put away with ease.
The U12 boys Storm played first place North Van Burrards, and our lads did not look out of place on the field.
Colton Davies played a stellar game in goal to keep the Storm in contention. Chris Hanchar smacked a shot off the post - another inch would have provided a timely goal. Burrards' better finishing was the difference as they prevailed 2-0.
Coach Glen Coady was away, so his able assistants John Lussier and Bill Davis handled the team and appear to have motivated the boys. This is a first-year team that is showing lots of promise.
The U16 boys Strikers took on league leading Richmond Renegades on Saturday.
It was a high tempo game with great action at both ends. The normally potent Strikers' attack was off key, and only Brandon Elsdon was able to find the net as Renegades came out on top 4-1.
The high-paced game with the Renegades set the tempo for the Strikers' game on Sunday against the West Van Devils.
Jeremy Izad opened the scoring with a sizzling left-footed shot. The Devils replied with two goals to lead 2-1 at half time.
In the second half, the Strikers' defence closed the door and the forwards nailed the result. Jesse Horne tied the score with a header from a Jeremy cross. Brandon hit a left-footer for the third, and Jeremy rapped it up with a fourth as the Strikers won 4-2.
Look for youth rep games every weekend. Go out and support these young players.
