The rep soccer season came to a close in impressive fashion last week for the Sunshine Coast Storm as they captured the Commonwealth Cup in a 4-0 win over North Vancouver Lightning.
The Storm attacked early as K.P. Hlatkey scored the opening goal off a nice feed from Eli Paradis.
Strong, creative mid-field work by Connor Richey, Kelsey Dixon and Kyle Hamilton kept the Lightning defence under constant pressure. Winger Derek Brown's dynamic play created several scoring opportunities, but it wasn't until the end of the first half when Derek muscled past the defence to make a well-placed cross which K.P. deftly headed in for a 2-0 lead.
In the second half, North Vancouver made a push, but Storm goalie Al Di Stefano made some key saves when necessary.
Midway through the half, the Storm went up 3-0 as Jesse Higgins converted a nice two-way passing play with Nathaniel Lussier. Jonah Lussier and Colton Davies combined on the fourth goal.
Team captain Eli Paradis attributed the Storm's success to a consistent and united team effort as well as strong leadership by coach John Lussier and assistant coach Dave Brown.
"Several of our players are a year or two younger than the age division we're playing in, so it was really important to be flexible in our approach and figure out how to maximize everyone's skills," said Eli.
Lussier said it was fitting that the final game demonstrated the Storm's tight possession game better than any other outing this year.
"It was a great group of young men to work with and they made it very easy to coach," Lussier said. "They were very dedicated and focused, and the results speak for themselves."
Overall, the Sunshine Coast had a solid season from all its rep teams.
The Sunshine Coast Youth Soccer Association has 10 teams this season, six boys and four girls. Boys teams played in the U11, U12, U13, U14, U15 and U18 divisions. The U11 and U12 teams played at gold level while all the other boys' teams played at the silver level. The girls' teams all played at the gold level in the U13, U14, U15, and U17 divisions.
The U11 and U12 boys played in the developmental league where no standings were kept, but the U11 team entered two tournaments at the end of the season, finishing second both times.
U13 United finished second in their league. The U14 Spartans had a fabulous year, finishing first in league and first in the Community Cup.
The Spartans were recognized by Gibsons council at the April 6 meeting and congratulated by Mayor Barry Janyk.
The U15 Predators were fourth in league, second in the Commonwealth Cup with the Community Cup still to be played.
On the girls' side, the U13 Vipers was seventh in league, U14 Inferno fourth in league. U15 United was 10th out of 16 teams in league play and made it to the second stage of the provincial cup before losing out. And the U17 Stingrays finished eighth in league and made it to the second stage of the provincial cup before losing out.
