It was heartbreak for the second straight year at the provincial AAA girls soccer championships for the McMath Wildcats.
The team’s gold medal hopes were dashed via a penalty shootout tiebreaker Friday morning that determined top spot in its pool and a berth in the semi-finals. The Wildcats and Fleetwood Park Dragons finished tied atop their group with 2-0-1 records. Since the teams had played to a scoreless draw in their head-to-head encounter, they returned to the field for penalty kicks.
Just as they did a year earlier, the Dragons prevailed, sending McMath to consolation play.
The Richmond champions closed out their season with wins over Island teams Oak Bay (1-0) and host Stelly’s (1-0) to duplicate their fifth place finish of 2014. In the past two seasons, under coach Stephen Burns, the Wildcats have yet to lose a game, compiling a 37-0-5 record.
Burns, a longtime teacher at South Delta Secondary School in Tsawwassen, also guided the Sun Devils to a ninth place finish. It was South Delta’s 14 consecutive trip to provincials. The Richmond resident continued his tradition of wearing colourful costumes to each game to help keep his players loose.
The team thanks to the following sponsors that helped cover costs for the trip to Victoria last week — Bare Basics Lingerie Boutique, Bean and Beyond, D Original Sausage Haus, The Richmond Sockeyes, and Mardon Insurance.
