Mountain United FC came away with its third-ever title following the B.C. Soccer Premier Cup provincial championships at the South Surrey Athletic Park last weekend.
Mountain's under-13 girls' team opened up Sunday's competition with a 3-0 victory over host and regular season champion Coastal FC in the provincial final.
Emma Regan opened the scoring with the eventual game-winning goal midway through the first half off a corner kick.
Jessica Ambrosio did all the work on the team's second goal 15 minutes into the second half, crossing a ball into the box that deflected into the net off a Coastal defender.
Julia Grosso completed the scoring 15 minutes from full time with an excellent strike on goal that beat the keeper to the bottom corner.
"They competed well and that allowed them to play possession and create chances," said u-13 Mountain head coach Paul Turner. "It's a very exciting age group - a very talented group."
Mountain technical director Frank Ciaccia called the u-13 girls "A treat to watch."
"That's a team we are very pleased with," he said. "They play the game properly - they get the ball down."
Coastal and Mountain finished first and second, respectively, just two points apart in the regular season. Mountain edged third-place Surrey United 1-0 in the semifinals a week earlier to advance to their first cup final.
Mountain United placed a league-best six teams in the 10 age group finals, but came away with five silver medals in the other title matches.
"The form really held for the most part," said Ciaccia. "We were really only favoured in one game. We were completely in control up one goal in the first half, but in a one-game playoff just about anything can happen."
That result cost the u15 girls' league champion Mountain side a 2-1 loss to Surrey United on Sunday.
Mountain also dropped a 2-0 decision in the u-18 girls' final to 10-1-1 Coastal FC.
On Saturday, Mountain lost all three of its boys' finals.
Coquitlam Metro-Ford '95 edged Mountain '96 by a 1-0 scoreline in the u-18 final.
The Burnaby/North Shore club also dropped both the u-14 and u-15 finals to the respective league champion.
The u-14s lost 2-0 to Surrey United after upsetting runner-up Metro-Ford a week earlier.
The u-15s also fell 3-1 to Coquitlam after a 1-0 semi-final win over Coastal.
But despite the single gold medal, Ciaccia was proud of Mountain's record of making the final four in all 10 age divisions.
He also credited the second-year program with preparing 41 of its players for the various provincial development squads.
There are also a handful of Mountain graduating players in line to step into Vancouver Whitecaps programs.
Another eight Mountain players from the u-18 divisions have been selected to play on B.C.'s Canada Games team in Sherbrooke, Quebec.
Furthermore, a large majority of Mountain's graduating players have been recruited to post-secondary programs, something Ciaccia says is the root of the club's foundation.
"Our objective is to get players into soccer for life. That's something the club is real proud of. It's what we're all about," Ciaccia said.
"There is no question it would have been nice to come out with two or three more (gold medals), but as a technical director, I'm proud of the direction we've taken as a club."
Winners of the u-14, u-16 and u-18 age groups will represent B.C. at the national club championships from Oct. 9 to 14.
