The expectation bar keeps rising for the South Delta Sun Devils and given it’s now mid-November that can only be a good thing.
The senior boys soccer team has not only secured its first provincial tournament berth in eight years but has also established itself as a serious medal threat when the 16-team tournament gets underway next week in Burnaby.
That was evident at the inaugural South Fraser AAA Championships where the Sun Devils capped a terrific run last Thursday at Newton Athletic Park with a 3-2 loss in penalty kicks to No. 1 ranked Panorama Ridge.
South Delta was just a couple of minutes away from pulling off a major upset in front of a pro-Thunder crowd, only to concede the game tying goal on a penalty kick.
Following overtime, the shootout produced little in the way of drama after the Sun Devils were turned back on their first three shots. The Thunder’s opening goal also came on a penalty.
The result came on the heels of a shootout victory three days earlier against No. 6 ranked Fleetwood Park in the semi-finals.
“That’s four penalty kicks (against us) in the last two games. I say two were (legit calls) and the others I’m not sure about. At the same time you have to be more disciplined and not give the referee a chance to make that call,” said co-coach Stephen Burns. “On the last one the player took it outside and we closed too closely. The guy certainly made a meal of it but we can’t do much about it. It’s very frustrating because we were that close. We had set up with an extra guy at the back and were ready to just see out the game. Unfortunately they got that break in the corner somehow.”
Burns added the team will make good use of the two weeks of preparation for provincials. The tournament puts a heavy emphasis on round-robin play with only the four group winners staying in championship contention. The Sun Devils are grouped with Handsworth, Rutland and Sardis.
“We will work on a few things that we need to work on. Playing out of the back has particularly been an issue where we are over playing it at times,” he said. “Our goal is top three. Every game is going to be like this. Nothing is going to be easy. We do have a lot of depth to bring guys on. We are aiming to be playing in that final.”
The B.C. AAA Championships take place Nov. 21-23 at the Burnaby Lake West Complex.
