It's a learning experience that coach Frank Palmieri hopes will pay off next year.
His u-18 Burnaby Selects dropped a 1-0 decision to Surrey Guildford United on April 1 in Coastal Cup A round-of-16 action at Burnaby Lake-West.
The Selects had hoped to join the u-18 Burnaby Selects - who handily beat Coquitlam Metro-Ford 6-0 in their round-of-16 match at Burnaby Lake-West - in the quarterfinals, but the future is very bright for Palmieri's squad.
"We're actually a u-17 team, and we had to play up," said Palmieri. "Our boys played hard and I'm very happy with their effort. This is something they will learn from and I hope it shows up when we play u-18 next year."
Palmieri commended Matthew Shannik as a player to look for in the future.
"Matthew is our best and most dangerous forward," said Palmieri of his captain.
And the rest of the squad also got complimentary words from their coach.
"I was proud of how hard my players played and unfortunately we could not capitalize on so many chances they generated," said Palmieri. "It was a heartbreaking loss and hopefully the boys have recovered for that."
Palmieri said the two biggest things the players learned was what they have to work on for next year.
"They saw the difference in strength, even in a year, and they saw how they need just a bit more touch of speed," said Palmieri. "That will come and they learned what they have to do to get to the next level next year."
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