Cariboo Hill and Burnaby Central secondary school soccer teams will have to make the best of a second chance opportunity to qualify for the provincials.
The Cariboo Hill Chargers went down 2-0 early in the second half to North Shore champion Sentinel in the B.C. high school boys’ AA zone qualifying match at Cariboo Oval on Tuesday.
Cariboo captain Kirk Menezes scored a goal off a long free kick midway through the second half that sailed over the keeper to shave the deficit in half.
With the Chargers pushing up for the equalizer, Sentinel scored a third goal late in the contest.
A day later, the Chargers found out the team would have a second chance to qualify for the AA provincials, which will be played at Burnaby Lake Sports Complex-West from Nov. 18 to 20.
The Chargers played North Shore No. 2 on Thursday at Cariboo Oval at 3 p.m. for the second zone berth.
“We didn’t know we’d have a second chance,” said Menezes.
On the North Shore, Central lost 2-1 to Sutherland in the boys’ AAA zone qualifier.
Vuk Erbez tapped in the game’s first goal off a strike at goal by Parker Ellis to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead at the interval.
But Sutherland scored two unanswered goals in the second half, including the game-winner with just 10 minutes left in the contest.
“We missed our chance. We have to take a detour to the provincials,” said Central coach Anto Steko.
In the other qualifying match, Moscrop lost to Handsworth by a 1-0 score.
Central is scheduled to play Handsworth Thursday on the North Shore for the final zone berth to the B.C.s.
