The Burnaby Central Wildcats boys’ soccer team fell one goal short of its redemption.
The senior Wildcats came close though, taking North Shore and qualifying zone champion Sutherland to the final minute before bowing out 2-1 in overtime in the B.C. high school AAA boys’ soccer final at Burnaby Lake Sports Complex-West on Saturday.
Playing for their coach Ibrahim Adamu, who missed the season due to medical reasons, and the school program, which was disqualified from last year’s provincial tournament, the loss came doubly hard for the players.
“It’s a mix of emotions,” said golden goal winner and tournament MVP Parker Ellis, who had Central’s lone goal in the championship final. “I know we did our best. It’s unlucky. We did it for our coach Mr. Adamu. He was our main motivation. Even after getting disqualified, he believed in us. We really wanted to do do it for him.”
But the game began with Central under intense pressure from the Sutherland front.
Wildcats goalie Trevor Hughes was busy all game long and could not be faulted on either of the two Sutherland scores.
The first goal came off a breakdown in the Central backline, leaving Hughes little chance on a low, hard shot to the corner.
But just minutes later and against the run of play, Ellis scored his tournament-high eighth goal of the provincials off a pretty through ball that the crafty senior left-footed past the tournament’s top keeper Michael Girard from outside the 18-yard box to knot the score at 1-1.
From that moment on, Central gave as good as it got, and even in the final minutes of the second half was taking the play to the North Shore champs. But nothing further got by the solid stopping of Girard.
The game-winner came on a scrambly play in front off the boot of Sutherland’s Dzenan Bezdrob with less than a minute left in the second overtime.
“The ball just dropped down. I thought I’d pounce on it. Luckily, I was first to the ball,” Bezdrob said. “Both teams were into the game. I think, if the ball didn’t drop for me, we’d have gone into a shootout.”
The two teams played to a similar 2-1 result in the final of the provincial zone qualifier.
“It’s a testament to the kids playing local soccer and local coaches,” said Central head coach Anto Steko. “I’m very, very, very, very proud of these boys. It’s a little unfortunate they’re hanging their heads right now, they really shouldn’t be.”
Central opened the tournament with a slight scare tying Sullivan Heights 4-4 after giving up three two-goal leads in the match.
But it turned into a wakeup call for the Burnaby players, said Steko.
“We knew we had to play the next two games smarter and with team defence,” Steko said.
Central responded with a 5-1 win over Queen Elizabeth and a 2-1 victory over eventual seventh-place McMath on two Ellis markers.
The Wildcats then advanced to the provincial final with a 3-1 victory over fourth-place finisher Reyonlds.
Daniel Pervan and Vuk Erbez.
Defender Duncan Penman tallied the game-winner that set up the rematch with Sutherland.
“Everyone was tired, everyone had their aches and pains. We came this far, but were just unlucky, I guess,” said Penman.
“All of us worked hard this tournament. All of us were injured. We deserved it more,” added Hughes. “Everyone worked together.”
And none more so than Ellis, who took the loss particularly hard.
“We played with more heart and more attachment. We wanted it so bad,” an emotional Ellis said, adding, “It’s more for Mr. Adamu and for the team.”
