For the past three seasons, it seems like the script has already been written for the Capilano College men's soccer team - at least when it came to the provincial championships.
Each year since 2003, the Capilano College Blues have squared off against the Douglas College Royals in the gold-medal final of the B.C. Colleges Athletics Association's provincial championships.
In 2003 the Blues won the gold medal and went on to repeat the feat at the Canadian Colleges Athletics Association championships.
However, for the past two seasons, it's been the Royals who have come out on top of the Blues at the B.C. championships.
Last year's finish was an especially bitter pill to swallow for the college team - after going through the regular season without a loss, the Blues finally hit the wall in a 2-1 loss to Douglas in the championship game.
It's that disappointing end to a remarkable season that is driving many of the returning players on the Blues team this season, said head coach Paul Dailly.
"To wind up with your first loss in the B.C. final definitely hurt, and for guys like [North Van striker] Corey [Birza] and [Burnaby midfielder] Alan [McIndoe], it's been two years in a row losing to Douglas in the final. They've definitely got a bad taste in their mouths and I'm sure they will be pushing the other guys to avoid that again this year."
The Blues are currently 2-2 on the season and tied for third place in the provincial loop. Douglas, which is also the defending national champion, leads the pack at 3-0.
If the Blues players are looking for inspiration as they try to nab another CCAA national title, they need look no further than their own coaching staff Dailly, a former Whitecaps great, won a pair of national titles while playing at Capilano College in 1990 and 1991, while associate coach Darren Rath, who teaches at Argyle secondary, won a national title as a player with the college in 1996. The team's new assistant coach, former Argyle Pipers player Leo Nash, was also a defender on that 2003 team that Dailly and Rath guided to a national crown. Nash joins the team after playing his senior season with the Blues last year.
Dailly said the coaching approaches of all three locals dovetail nicely both on and off the field.
"I'm the more aggressive type of person - I'll tell it like it is, whereas Darren's more of a calming influence, and Leo's just getting his feet wet. Between the three of us, it's a really nice mix."
"It's good having Leo on board. He's kind of a go-between for the younger guys on the team. If they feel more comfortable approaching Leo about something, then they'll do that, and he will come to us with it. He's won a Canadian championship so he knows what it takes, and the younger guys can relate to him a bit better than to me or Darren, maybe."
One new player on this year's roster who may have the chops to help all three coaches push their players past Douglas once again is William Gye, who played for the Elphinstone Cougars in high school before moving on to play his first year of post-secondary soccer with none other than the Douglas Royals.Dailly fully expects to see Douglas again if Cap makes the four-team BCCAA playoffs for the fourth-straight year. This year's B.C. championships are set to take place at Hillside Stadium in Kamloops Oct. 28 and 29, with the winner advancing to the Canadian championships, set for Langara College Nov. 8 to 11.
"Douglas is tough again," said Dailly. "They have a lot of the same guys they had last year. They're solid at the back and they're a really hard-working team with a lot of skill and third and fourth year guys, so they're definitely going to be one of our tougher opponents again.
"The league seems to be quite well-balanced this year and on any given day you need to show up with your best game or you're going to end up missing out."
The Blues are competing with the Royals, Langara College Falcons, Kwantlen College Eagles, Malaspina University College Mariners, Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack and Okanagan University College Lakers this season.
