Measured, composed and determined – the Burnaby Central Wildcats head into the league high school senior boys’ soccer playoffs in an ideal place.
Provincial bronze medallists a year ago, the returning players brought lofty expectations into this season.
After wrapping up Burnaby-New West league at a perfect 6-0, the Wildcats’ path to a return to the B.C.s is fairly basic – but by no means easy.
“I’d say the key to this season so far is we had a lot of guys come back from last year, who were Grade 11s, and that has given us a pretty strong core,” remarked co-coach Anto Steko, who works the sidelines along with Ibrahim Adamu. “Those players who moved up (from junior) have just added to that mix.”
All the players are products of high level programs, whether it be HPL, metro or gold squads. The club has also benefitted from a few who trained in the Whitecaps Residency program.
“It’s a pretty dynamic group,” said Steko. “We have some guys who are still regular kids, but when they are at the field and the ball’s in play, everyone is on the same page.”
Among the veterans are Brady Hughes and Nathan Graziano – the latter has missed much of the season but is expected to be ready for some playoff action – while Gr. 11 Filip Rakic has made a quick transition.
It’s been team defence which has made the difference on most days, having surrended just four goals.
That will need to continue if the squad is to retain the league title as they march towards the Burnaby-North Shore playdowns.
“We need to just play it simple, not try to do too much,” said Steko. “These boys know exactly what they want, and that’s to win.”
The league playoffs start today (Wednesday) for third-to-sixth place teams. Semifinals are slated for Monday.
