The South Burnaby Fighting Irish is poised to go where no Burnaby Men's Soccer Association has gone before.
The defending Burnaby men's league champions advanced to the final of the B.C. Soccer Provincial B Cup against last season's champion Richmond All-Blacks following a 2-0 win over the Richmond Athletics last Friday in Richmond.
Saman Safari scored what proved to be the game-winner in the opening half. Team captain Luke O'Sullivan added an insurance marker late in the game.
Carlo Bertelli recorded the shutout in the Irish net.
"It was a good win," said keeper Nour Fathy, who will get the start in goal in the final against the All-Blacks at Burnaby Lake Sports Complex-West on Saturday. "We're just happy to be here. It's something we've been working towards all season."
The Fighting Irish topped Division 1 of the Burnaby League with a 13-3-2 regular season record, edging out runner-up Bacardi FC, which also went to a B Cup final a number of years ago, by six points.
Last season, South Burnaby also won the league title but were eliminated in the opening round of the provincial playdowns.
"It's exciting for everybody," added Fathy, who is also an assistant coach for Simon Fraser University's varsity men's soccer team. "We know the opposition we're going to play against is a good team."
This year, the Fighting Irish and the Burnaby league, in general, have more than made up for past shortcomings.
Three of four league clubs made it to the quarter-finals, including South Burnaby's 2-1 win over Bacardi in an all-Burnaby matchup. Europa lost 2-0 to Vancouver Metro league's Division 2C winner Metropolitan FC A in another quarter-final.
Third-place-finishing Mundiavocat FC was unlucky to meet the Richmond All-Blacks in a 5-3 opening-draw loss.
"The level of play is great. ... That's the evidence of the level of play for our league," Fathy added. "But the big thing with us is doing well and to show the Burnaby league is not a pushover league."
