Actors often say “The play’s the thing.”
It goes for athletes, too.
The Burnaby North Vikings demonstrated much moxie as hosts of the B.C. AAA senior girls soccer championships last week, while demonstrating that they deserved to be there on their own merits.
Although they finished the 16-team tourney in 15th spot, the Vikings played well and finished with a 1-2-2 record – just one goal away in the round robin from advancing into the top eight.
After battling their first two opponents – R.A. McMath and Clayton Heights – to identical 1-1 draws, Burnaby North’s fate rested in a matchup against Coquitlam’s Centennial.
The Centaurs showed why they were a top-ranked squad, counting out five goals to capture the pool and momentum heading into the championship round.
Burnaby North fell 1-0 to Lord Byng, and ended the tourney by topping North Peace 2-1 in penalty kicks.
“I think (the players) had a great time,” said coach Deborah Peters. “The competition was really good, and to go through (the round robin) losing just once shows we were in it.”
While goals were at a premium, the team had a couple of golden opportunities, especially against Clayton Heights, that could have pulled a victory and a berth to the championship round.
“We had our chances in that one. It was a squandered opportunity that we should have won,” she said.
Still, the week gave the squad a chance to measure their skills against some of the best, with positive results.
The Vikings found themselves trailing 1-0 early against North Peace, but rallied to force penalty kicks. The Burnaby North keeper stopped every opposition shot in the showdown, while the hosts buried all three chances.
“You look back and see how hard the competition is,” said Peters. “It tells you how hard you need to play to be in the mix. We were very close.”
Ashley Bristow was selected to the Commissioner’s 11 all-star team.
Burnaby North will graduate eight players, including five starters, and will have 13 players to build around next season.
The returnees will have this experience to build on.
“The best part was just hanging out with the girls,” said the coach. “They are just fantastic people – there’s no negativity, they are always there to pick each other up.”
