A pair of dramatic comebacks produced Provincial Cup titles for Richmond soccer teams on Sunday afternoon in Surrey.
U18 Richmond United boys and U16 Richmond F.C. girls capped outstanding campaigns in style at B.C. Soccer’s Provincial “A” Cup Championships at Newton Athletic Park.
United completed a remarkable season that saw them accomplish the rare treble as Metro League, Coastal and Provincial champions thanks a thrilling 4-2 overtime win over arch-rival Burnaby Selects.
Richmond was seconds away from its first defeat of the season, in league or cup play, when the equalizer was scored to send the match into extra time. The locals carried the momentum and took advantage of their tired opponent playing with just 10 men after a second yellow late in regulation resulted in a red card and an automatic ejection.
The gold medal match was the final chapter of a terrific rivalry between the two clear top teams in the Metro Selects League all season. Richmond also defeated Burnaby 1-0 in the Coastal Cup final back in early May and needed more late heroics to salvage a 1-1 draw in the opening game of provincials last Thursday.
United’s road to the final also included a 2-0 triumph over Bays/Peninsula and playing Prince George to a 2-2 draw.
Richmond’s roster featured: captain Talvinder Jagde, Jovan Dhillon, Sajad Bakhtani, Khalil Virji, Daniel Judkowicz, Matthew Loveland, Sean Minato, Jordan Sandhu, Logan Hooper, Benjamin Weber, William Jackson, Nicholas Perrott, Zachary Balen, Reese Hafner, Peiyu Song, Marko Jovic, Maciej Wysocki and Zach Cantwell. The coaches include Shawn Sandhu, Indy Dulay and Richmond F.C. technical coach Greg Dunham. Bob Minato is the team manager.
Meanwhile, Richmond F.C. became the first city girls’ team to be crowned B.C. champs since the U15 Richmond Synergy and U13 Richmond Selects did it back in 2013 thanks to their 2-1 triumph over the Upper Island Riptides.
In a rematch of the Coastal Cup final that saw Richmond prevail 3-2 in penalty kicks, it was the Riptides that took a 1-0 lead into the final 40 minutes.
The girls dug deep, overcoming another warm afternoon on heat absorbing field turf, to score a pair of unanswered goals to cap their memorable season.
Richmond opened the championships with a pair of wins over Metro League rivals, defeating Coquitlam Metro Ford and Delta Coastal Selects by 2-1 scores. It was then a preview of the final Saturday as the girls played Upper Island to a scoreless draw.
Richmond F.C. roster included: Megan Estrada, Sammi Seaborn, Harmony Bulloch, Gabby Lee, Kara Moscovitz, Allison Carver, Samantha Trueman, Izzy Loschiavo, Bella Lawson, Morgan Flynn, Samantha Mah, Grace Stephenson, Alex Legge, Keanna Foster, Leora Bloom, Kayla Seaborn, Kayla Nimchuk and Reiko Bohmert. Richmond F.C. were coached by Sean Lawson and Richmond Girls Soccer staff coach Brent Branker.
At the Provincial “B” Cup Girls Championships in South Surrey, the U17 Richmond Force capped their outstanding campaign with a 2-1 win over Langley United in the bronze medal game.
The Force just missed out on a berth in the cup final after going undefeated in pool play with a 1-0-2 record. Cowichan Valley advanced with a 2-0-1 record.
Richmond played the eventual silver medalists to a 3-3 draw and also tied Guildford AC 2-2, while defeating the Kootenay Storm 6-1.
The U13 Galaxy nearly reached the podium too, falling 1-0 to Bays United in the bronze medal game.
It was the girls' only loss of the championships after finishing second in their group with a 1-0-2 record that included a 2-1 win over Williams Lake and scoreless draws against group winner Surrey United Hurricanes and Kelowna United.
