The Richmond Colts senior boys soccer team has produced its biggest feat in two decades by capturing the Lower Mainland AA Championship.
The Colts completed the feat with a well-played 1-0 victory over the John Oliver Jokers on Tuesday in East Vancouver. The result also sends them to the Provincial AA Championships, Nov. 21-23 in Burnaby.
Goalkeeper Emerson Cooke recorded his second shutout of the playoffs and received excellent defensive play in front of him from Philip Gundic, Matthew Chan, Abraham Pawlik, Stephen Gonzales and Anton Poburko.
After a regular season that saw the team struggle early en route to a 2-4 league record, the Colts played very structured defensively and scored some timely goals to generate four consecutive victories in the post-season under community coach Dan Cooke.
The impressive run started with a dramatic 3-2 victory in penalty kicks over Hugh Boyd just to qualify for the Lower Mainland playoffs. Liam Brusse headed home both Richmond goals.
The Colts then thrived as a distinct underdog, opening the Mainland tourney with a 2-0 victory against St. Patrick’s.
Next were the Britannia Bruins in the semi-finals who were fresh off an upset win over the McNair Marlins.
The Colts came through on their new turf field, producing a 2-0 victory on goals by Iveelt Gant and the speedy Ian Moon. Randy Li earned the shutout in goal.
This is the best result for the Colts in boys soccer since winning B.C. titles in 1990 and 1996.
