Dragons fend off all comers en route to B.C. girls soccer final
It’s tough to slay a dragon — not to mention an entire team of dragons.
The Fleetwood Park Dragons will have a chance to defend their B.C. triple-A senior girls soccer title, advancing to today’s championship game against the Dr. Charles Best Blue Devils with a gritty 1-0 win over the Panorama Ridge Thunder in Friday’s semifinal.
“We’ve played them five times and they’ve all been one-goal games. Us, them, us, them, us … ” said Dragons coach Sunny Uppal, whose Surrey-based club lost 2-1 to the Thunder in the Fraser Valley semifinals. “That’s why I told the girls after that loss that it’s OK.
“When we get to provincials is when we really want to win it,” he added.
It took a late goal from Kayla Smith to get it done as she pounced on a loose ball that eluded the Panorama Ridge goalkeeper. Earlier on, Lorissa Houle had the best opportunity to score for the Dragons, but sent a rightfooter over the crossbar.
Chances were few and far between in the game as the Drag- ons defended their lair, loading up the back end against the Thunder, who were silenced. Simi Lehal was a tower of strength on defence.
Charles Best, meanwhile, bested the Elgin Park Orcas 2-1 in the second semifinal.
The Orcas were earlier pushed to the limit in their final roundrobin game.
The host and Island runnersup, Stelly’s Stingers, were seven minutes away from toppling No. 1 Elgin Park, but Brooklyn Tidder’s late goal eked out a 2-2 draw for the Orcas, which was enough to get through pool play after two opening wins.
“We were lucky,” added Orcas coach Bruce Filsinger. “They came out in that second half and pushed us. They were physical.”
A Stingers’s win would have pushed them through to the semis, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“So close, down to almost five minutes away from pulling it off. I thought we had it,” said Stingers coach Jackie Cunningham. “That was the best I’d seen this team play all year. That was what we aspired to all season.”
The Stingers placed second in Pool B behind the Orcas.
Down 1-0 on a goal from Elgin Park’s Mairin Kiloh in the first half, Julia Coulson tied it five minutes into the second for Stelly’s on a great through ball from Kelsey Boudreau. Boudreau sent a corner kick onto the head of a leaping Mara McCleary for a 2-1 lead just minutes later as the Stingers dictated play.
The Island champion Oak Bay Breakers fell 1-0 to the solid Panorama Ridge team that was ranked No. 1 for most of the year until Elgin Park knocked them off in the Fraser Valley final. That result pushed the Thunder into the semifinal.
“It is [disappointing], . . . the girls have had a really good year so it’s tough to be that disappointed,” said Breakers coach Brent Garraway.
Oak Bay, second in Pool C, then lost 1-0 to McMath, second in Pool D.
Stelly’s, second in Pool B, defeated the Argyle Pipers (second in Pool A) 2-1 and will play McMath for fifth place today at 11 a.m. on Field 3.
The Dragons face the Blue Devils in the noon championship final today at UVic’s Centennial Stadium, while the Thunder take on Elgin Park for bronze at 10 a.m. on the same pitch.