Six Richmond youth soccer teams remain in the championship hunt as the Coastal Cup playdowns have reached the semi-final stage.
The defending provincial U16 girls champion Richmond Red Selects continue to dominate at the U18 level, rolling to a 7-1 quarter-final win over the North Shore Renegades. The Selects will look for another win on home turf Sunday when the Burnaby Strikers visit Hugh Boyd at 3 p.m.
In girls U14A action, Richmond Synergy advanced to the final four with a 2-0 home field win over the Chilliwack Impact. The locals had opened the playdowns with a 1-0 win over Vancouver FC. They now travel to Vancouver Island on Saturday to face the Saanich Fusion.
In U17B girls playdowns, the Richmond Rockets have beene a major force on the road. After slipping past Coquitlam Metro Ford Diablos in their opening round game, the Rockets continued to have success in the Tri-Cities area, edging Port Moody Nitro 2-1. They will looked for a third win in that region when they face the Port Coquitlam Fury on Sunday.
On the boys side, Richmond Youth Soccer Association's Select program continues to flex its muscles with three teams now a win away from the cup final.
U18 Richmond United showed why it was the class of league play, blasting the North Vancouver Selects 10-0. United will now host Upper Vancouver Island United on Sunday (2 p.m.) at Hugh Boyd.
U16 United, which also finished on top of the table in the regular season, rolled through to the semi-finals with a 4-2 victory over the North Coquitlam Selects. Richmond now meets the Delta Selects, with kickoff slated for 1 p.m. on Saturday at Hugh Boyd.
U13 Richmond United continued their impressive first season at the Select level, traveling to South Surrey last Sunday where the boys produced a 2-1 result over the Delta Selects. United will be back at Hugh Boyd on Saturday (3 p.m.) to take on Coquitlam Metro Ford Millennium.
The Coastal Cup finals will take place May 5-6 in Richmond. Semi-final wins by all six teams this weekend will also secure berths into the Provincial Cup championships in July.
