In their last major tournament, they had a mountain to climb. This time, they are the mountain.
The players with Mountain United FC boys under-16 soccer team will be packing big goals for next week’s Sportchek national soccer championships in Lethbridge, AB.
The squad enters the 10-team tourney looking at building on a stellar run this past summer at the provincials, where they avenged their only losses of the season with a convincing win in the final.
“I think our kids had all the motivation they needed, and while we faced some adversity we were confident that if they played tactically and played for possession that they could do it,” said former head coach Wayne Shaw of the B.C.s. “And they played the best game of the year, and in my two years it was the best game I’d seen them play.”
Shaw, who stepped down as coach after the June provincials to spend more time with family after a 30-year coaching career, said Mountain’s biggest advantage heading into the nationals, as it was at provincials, is its tactical strength.
Anchored by a talented core of on-pitch leaders, the team shook off the loss of four injured starters and blanked regular season champion Coastal FC 4-0 in the EA Sports B.C. Soccer Premier League final in Kelowna. Among the missing were Burnaby’s Ryan Hum and Lorenzo De Bei.
Stepping up and enjoying stellar games were New Westminster’s Ryu Ikeda, who shifted from forward to fullback and efficiently shut down Coastal’s top shooter, North Vancouver’s Alex Wallace, Miles Gailiunas and goalkeeper Sam Boppart.
“We called up four players, who contributed, but most importantly the core came up and played its best game. The big thing as a coach is I really appreciated how they stepped up, they beat the top team in the league when it counted.
In regular season meetings, Coastal prevailed 4-1 and 2-1 to claim first place in the league. Those were Mountain’s only losses, and served as a great motivator.
Shaw, who coached the Mountain u17 team to the organization’s first national medal, finishing third two years ago, said the club should be a favourite to advance to the final, in a pool that includes the host Alberta champions and three Atlantic province teams.
Three members of last year’s squad have since been carded by the Whitecaps Residency program and won’t be available – New West’s Niko Papakryiakopoulos, North Van’s Jake Ruby and Coquitlam’s Gurman Sangha.
Mountain FC draws players for its premier programs from Burnaby, New Westminster and the North Shore. The squad is coached by Dan Fairhurst, assisted by Brendan Shaw (Wayne’s son) and managed by Howard Hum.
