For a team of 18 boys, spring break started off with a bang bringing home the first place hardware from the Lynn Valley U15 soccer tournament.
Coach Eduardo Alvarez took a core group of his Bandidos plus other Sunshine Coast youth soccer players who volunteered to round out the team for the Vancouver tournament. Alvarez's enthusiasm and love for the game of soccer was reflected in the way the kids came together from different teams and pulled together until the final moments of the weekend tournament.Last Saturday, the Bandidos started tournament play with their easiest victory of the weekend. Sam Garmulewicz earned a hat trick, Avery Payne drilled home two goals and Connor Weatherston added the sixth goal, in a 6-0 shut out for goalie Jesse Boone against the Lynn Valley Blizzard. The next game was more exciting with the Bandidos scoring three goals inthe first half with the Lynn Valley Lightening gaining momentum with the next two unanswered goals. Again Connor scored two and Bray Vanstrepen fired home the winning goal in the 3-2 win.
Early in Sunday's game Connor had a breakaway, but a bad bounce put the ball under his feet which put him out for the rest of the tournament with an ankle injury. Avery scored a hat trick and the final score was 3-1 Bandidos in a very physical game. In the final, the Bandidos went on to play Lynn Valley Lightening again with Lynn Valley taking an early 1-0 lead.Although the Bandidos had many great shots on goal, they found the posts and crossbar, but didn't get the ball across the line. With Jesse stellar in goal and strong defensive work from Kelly Perreur-Lloyd, Landin Johnston and Alex Christian, along with depth from the bench, they allowed only four goals against the Bandidos all weekend. So despite losing 1-0 in the final the Bandidos earned more points than any other team by winning three out of four games in round robin play, to earn the championship for the U15 bronze division. The weekend was a fun and challenging event for the boys that they won't soon forget. It will be interesting when they meet each other March 29 and 30 in the year-end tournament for the Sunshine Coast Youth Soccer Association.
