A trio of Richmond youth soccer teams have advanced to the Coastal Cup Championships in Aldergrove.
The B.C. Soccer showcase event is in its 54th year and features boys and girls age group finals at the “A” and “B” levels. All finalists have also secured berths in this summer’s Provincial Cup championships in early July.
Richmond F.C.’s U18 Metro team continued its outstanding season with a dominating 4-1 win over Surrey Pegasus on Sunday at Hugh Boyd. Fullback Sean Minato broke a 1-1 deadlock when he headed home Jovan Dhillon’s corner kick in the dying seconds of the opening half. Dhillon scored a pair himself, including a second half penalty.
Richmond had already locked up a Provincial Cup berth after winning the Metro Selects League regular season title with an unbeaten 14-0-4 record. The boys will face Burnaby Lakers in the U18A championship game. The rivals were the clear top two teams over the course of the season.
Meanwhile, the Richmond Girls Soccer Association has two teams moving onto the Coastal Cup finals.
U16 Richmond F.C. has continued its impressive run at the Metro Selects level by advancing to the cup final for the second straight year after a thrilling 4-3 win over the Fraser Valley Selects. The girls are scoring plenty of goals in the post-season, earlier defeating Port Moody 4-1 in quarter-final play.
The locals also put together a solid regular season, finishing with a 13-6-2 league record. They will face the Upper Island Tide in the cup final.
A terrific inaugural season for the U13 Galaxy at the rep level continued with a 1-0 road win over the North Shore Interceptors. The Galaxy have had plenty of drama during their cup run, producing earlier penalty kick wins over Langley and Coquitlam Metro Ford. They will face Vancouver Island champions Bays United in the U13B Cup final.
The Coastal Cup finals are slated for May 6-7 at the Aldergrove Athletic Park.
The Galaxy will be in South Surrey for their Provincial “B” Cup tournament in July, while both Richmond Metro teams will be at Newton Athletic Park for the Provincial “A” Cup championships.
