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Xenichen Wolves win playoff title

The Xenichen Wolves pulled off the men's soccer double a league title and a playoff championship with an impressive 2-0 win over the Ridgepoint Bruins in last Sunday's men's soccer league final at Ted Dixon Memorial Park in Sechelt.
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The Xenichen Wolves pulled off the men's soccer double a league title and a playoff championship with an impressive 2-0 win over the Ridgepoint Bruins in last Sunday's men's soccer league final at Ted Dixon Memorial Park in Sechelt.

The first half saw a strike from Wolves' dancing Dan Muir, and the second half saw Kevin August convert Junior Dixon's cross into the net, to give the Wolves their second consecutive finals' cup, to go with their league win.

Muir won tournament MVP, and Sitas won most sportsmanlike team.

Normally one wouldn't associate fairy tale princesses with Jesse Agnew and the Bruins, but they were indeed this year's Cinderella story.

The Bruins made the transition from seventh place garbage bears, to grizzly finalist contenders swatting away all comers. They did this by gutting their midfield and front line to place the duo of Mike Sopel and Mike Husband at centre defence, while rotating the scoring duties between Pat Taylor and others.

In their 3-1 semifinal win over CPU, Taylor, and Chad Parrel scored early goals, until a signature short side 25-yard rip from CPUs Ken Campbell, put the game within a goal. Then Grant Marshall found himself on a 50-yard breakaway. Usually more accustomed to strolling manicured real estate in penny loafers with prospective clients, Marshall dug in his cleats to get to the goal line and put the match out of reach.

The other semifinal was a flat out 90-minute, full-pitch battle between Sechelt Indian Band rivals Chiefs and Wolves.

Like their regular season meetings, this game also ended in a tie, with the Wolves going ahead on goals from Rich Watson and Muir, followed by equalizers from Scott Johnson and Jacy August. Unlike other games though, nobody was leaving the field until there was a victor and a vanquished. In the final minute of overtime, Deni August sent in a cross to the head of Muir for the game winner.

Prior to the final, the hundreds of fans were treated to the hotly contested, equally coveted Beer Cup battle between Halfmoon Bay and cup defenders the Pender Harbour Bananas.

As the teams lined up, Pender's Rod Kammerle fixed his steely eyes on the aluminum prize glittering in the sunshine, except for the parts of it covered by duct tape. He was matched on the Halfmoon Bay side by the frenzied play of Nate Big Gulp Wade, whose thirst is said to cast a shadow. Kammerle played the entire game on the inside sideline for no apparent strategic purpose, although that was the side from which Coast Cable did its filming. Jag Singh hit the net for the Bananas, but the rising power of Halfmoon Bay put away three, and carted away the taped-can monstrosity also known as the Beer Cup.

The league would like to thank Marshall for his fine work as league president and record keeper Jedidiah Wensvene.

Coast Cable will be broadcasting the Beer Cup and the final, so check out the broadcast schedule on-line at www.coastcable.com. Also check out the sports ticker on page 60 for all the scores from the playoff tournament.