Minwoo Sung scored the overtime winner to give the Burnaby Selects a second consecutive Coastal A Cup title.
Sung took a pass from Jake Archibald off a free kick and slotted home the game-winning marker in the 10th minute of the first of two 15-minute overtimes to give Burnaby a 3-2 victory over the Central City Breakers in the under-18 boys’ A Cup at the Aldergrove Athletic Centre on Saturday.
Sung opened the scoring early in the second half and later Lucas Dalla-Vecchia made it 2-1 for the Metro League Selects on a setup by teammate Daniel Johnson.
But the Breakers tied it up late on both occasions, countering off a Burnaby turnover and then drawing even at 2-2 after a successful penalty kick resulting aom a trip in the box.
But in true Selects style, the young first-year u-18 Burnaby side did not waver, capturing its second straight Cup after last season’s win at the u-16 level.
“They won their way in and deserved it,” said a proud Burnaby head coach Joe Pinto.
Last week, the u-17 club side got by North Vancouver 1-0 to advance to the cup final.
But the real story of the Coastal Cup was an earlier 3-2 win over 1997-born Central City Breakers Elite in the quarter-finals, said Pinto.
“The ’97 CCB was the best team in that age group. We were winning 2-0 with eight minutes left to go, but they tied it up,” said Pinto. “But with one minute left to go Johnson took two players on and scored. They were down, but they didn’t give up.”
Burnaby opened with a 3-0 victory over the Delta Coastal Selects in the round of 16.
The win advanced the Selects to the upcoming provincial championships in July.
Teens stopped at three
The u-16 Burnaby Selects had their three-year reign at the Coastal Cup stopped by Coquitlam Metro-Ford 3-0 in the A final in Aldergrove on Saturday.
Burnaby fell behind 1-0 after 20 minutes of play and enjoyed a majority of the play, before giving up two late goals which flattered the winners.
It was one of those games we should have won,” said Selects head coach Frank Iuele. “We had three tap-ins from one foot out and missed them. We were so unlucky.”
The Selects, who finished second following the regular season and have won three consecutive Provincial Cup titles, will get an opportunity for a fourth later this summer despite the loss at the Coastals.
Burnaby got by Richmond United 3-2 in last week’s semifinal. The Selects got off to a strong start in the Coastal Cup playdowns, blanking the Delta Coastal Selects 4-0 in the quarter-finals.
“We’ve had a good run in the last four years, but as much as it was heartbreaking, we’re not going to miss all the time,” said Iuele.
Shootout loss
The u-14 Burnaby Selects also dropped their Coastal A Cup final 2-1 on penalty kicks to league champion Port Moody on Sunday.
After spotting Moody the first goal, Justin Petkovic evened the contest before half time with what head coach Geoff Labine described as the goal of the season.
In a solo move from midfield, Petkovic took on the opposition backline and sprung himself loose before beating the charging Port Moody goalie with a clever chip shot into the back of the net.
Nothing was solved in the second half, and the two teams went to a shootout with Port Moody prevailing 4-2.
“Their physicality was wearing us down,” said Labine of the scoreless second half. “I think we were fortunate to get it to penalty kicks.”
Burnaby advanced to the final with a 4-2 win over Saanich Fusion a week earlier.
The defending Provincial Cup champion also blanked Vancouver FC 1-0 in the quarter-finals and Surrey Guildford United 2-1 in the opening round of 16.
