Pinnacles crowned at May Classic
Penticton Pinnacles teams swept the men’s and women’s titles at the 56th annual Pacific Western Brewery May Classic soccer tournament on Monday at King’s Park.
The Tim Hortons Pinnacles blanked Port Coquitlam Legends 3-0 in the men’s final at the SoccerX.com pitch, while the Pinnacles defeated the Hat-Tricks 2-0 in the women’s final at the Murray GM pitch.
Ten men’s and nine women’s teams took part in the three-day competition, the longest continuously running amateur soccer tourney in Western Canada.
In the men’s final, the Pinnacles got a goal from Niko Kahl five minutes into the game, and James Fraser on a penalty kick and Randy Hubber also connected as Penticton won four straight games in the tourney.
New head coach Ezra Cremers was delighted with the team’s performance, especially since they’ve only had four training sessions together as a group.
The Pinnacles open Pacific Coast Soccer League Premier Men’s Division play this Sunday at noon at King’s Park versus the Victoria Highlanders.
“We’ve got a lot of new faces, young faces and a lot of guys who have played a bit together over the last four or five years,” said Cremers. “It’s an extremely talented group. We were just focusing on how we defend, how we attack, how we generate scoring chances.
“There were a lot of learning moments over the weekend, but overall it went really well.”
Cremers noted several top players such as Hubber returned to the Pinnacles after the Kamloops Heat team folded in the off-season.
“We’ve got a few guys from out of town, but the vast majority are kids developed right here in Penticton,” said Cremers. “We’re optimistic about what lies ahead.”
The Pinnacles breezed through the round-robin, beating the PoCo Royals 5-1, Williams Lake Lightning 7-1 and West Coast FC 4-1. Thompson Rivers University starter and Pinnacles FC product Brady van Ryswyk backstopped all four wins.
“He didn’t have a ton of work, but he made some good saves when called upon,” said Cremers.
Star Boys from North Delta took the men’s B final 1-0 over the PoCo Royals. Another local team, the Murray GM Men’s League All-Stars, earned one win in three games.
In the women’s final, first-half goals by Lina Campagnaro and Madison Emmond were all Penticton needed to defeat the Hat-Tricks, a team comprised of Penticton and Kootenay-area players.
Emily Edmundson posted the shutout, her third in four games on the weekend. Penticton also won its three round-robin games against TCOB from Vancouver, Williams Lake and the Metro Ford Royals and allowed just a single goal — it coming on a penalty kick.
“It was a fun tournament and gave everyone a chance to play and get going,” said head coach Ray Hintz.
In anticipation of the PCSL women’s league starting up again in 2018, the Pinnacles are playing a series of tournaments and exhibition games this season.
Hintz said the team has upcoming trips to Victoria and Kamloops.
In the women’s B final, Tsunami Blues from Calgary beat TCOB 2-0.
The Pinnacles Reunion team, coached by Pat Conway, just missed out on a berth in the final on a tiebreaker.