The goal was, like in Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who, to be heard.
The Burnaby North Vikings got the message out, and then some, as they made their first appearance at the provincial boys AAA soccer championships in 12 years.
Although their record was 1-3 and they finished 13th overall, the effort and experience all added up to a win, said North coach Deborah Peters.
“The boys were pretty excited heading into the tournament,” said Peters. “We realized we had a very hard pool and felt if we could get out of the pool we would have a good chance to medal.”
Despite a strong start in the opener against Killarney, Burnaby suffered a 1-0 setback on a second-half goal on an unfortunate bounce.
Against No. 2-ranked Sullivan Heights, who would eventually finish fourth in the tourney, the Vikings again were right in the thick of it. That game also ended in a 1-0 loss, thanks to a wind-boosted shot.
Against the defending champion and favoured Dr. Charles Best Blue Devils, the underdogs gave up a suspicious goal with just seconds left in the first half. Down 2-0 midway through the second frame, Burnaby finally put one on the board when Mihai Hodut buried a penalty kick.
Resigned to the consolation side of the bracket, the Vikings rallied to defeat Mount Baker 3-2 in penalty kicks, with Dominik Svorinic supplying both an impressive tying goal and decisive penalty kick tally.
Game MVPs were Gordon Grice, Rodrigo Lopez, Jesse Pavlovic and Hodut, while Mario Banovic was named to the tournament’s Commissioner’s 16 all-star team.
