The McMath Wildcats will ride a perfect record into the upcoming Provincial "AAA" Boys Soccer Championships.
The Steveston school is expected to be among the top seeds in the 16-team tournament two weeks from now after capturing the Lower Mainland title on Tuesday with a 1-0 win over Lord Byng in penalty kicks. After regulation and overtime couldn't determine the outcome, the Wildcats prevailed 5-4. The result came on the heels of a 1-0 victory over St. George's and a 3-0 opening round triumph against Kitsilano. Earlier, McMath went 8-0 in Richmond league play, outscoring its opponents 46-4 in the process.
The team has been exceptional defensively, led by goalkeeper Jason Roberts who helped B.C. win gold at the Canada Summer Games back in August. He also has a talented back four in front of him.
"We have a good all round skillful team but our main strength is our defense," said coach Mike Quinn who has been overseeing the McMath senior boys program since 2007. "Jason has been outstanding behind a strong back line led by captain Theo Lorenz, Bobby Bertram, Glen Kirkland, and
Conner McFayden, backed up with defensive midfielders, Andy Ng and Kourino Hazebrouck.
"We should have a good chance of winning our group and we'll see what happens from there."
The Wildcats capped a perfect run in Richmond play with a 3-0 win over McNair. It was then off to the Lower Mainland Championships.
Second half goals from Liam Robinson, Luke Sewell and Miguel Keough broke a scoreless deadlock with Kitsilano.
The semi-final proved to be an exciting affair against St. George's.
Fraser Kirkland scored a great first half goal after running onto a long bouncing through ball from midfielder George Almeida. Kirkland deftly lobbed the ball over the rushing goalkeeper. It was heading for the net but, just to make sure, he followed his shot and headed it home. The second half saw St. Georges apply a lot of pressure but McMath's defense held its ground.
The final was played at Camuson Park on a bumpy grass surface which was something the Richmond boys weren't used to having spent so much time on field turf.
After an evenly played first half, Lord Byng came out strong in the second and out-chanced the Wildcats but the match remained scoreless.
Overtime produced some exciting moments with both goalkeepers making several good stops. In the penalty shoot, Roberts made an excellent stop to set the stage for the McMath win on goals by Hazebrouck, Lorenz, Almeida, Fraser Kirkland and Bertram.
Rounding out the squad are: Jorge Esquiavel, Itai Goldfarb, Ryan Kamimura, Lachlan Macaulay, John Murray and Trevor Shackles.
This marks the fifth time Quinn has guided a McMath team to a B.C. berth. The run includes a third place finish in 2010 when only a penalty shootout loss in the semi-finals denied the Wildcats a chance to play for the championship.
Arguably, their most talented team ended up fifth in 2009 after a surprise loss in round-robin play. It was McMath's only defeat in 19 games.
The tournament format puts a heavy emphasis on the three preliminary games with only the four round-robin group winners advancing directly to the semi-finals. "It's a format where you need a little luck too," added Quinn. "We were probably the most talented team in the tournament (in 2009) but that one loss did us in."
The provincials are slated for Nov. 21-23 in Burnaby.
