It was a 10th place finish for the McMath Wildcats at the recent B.C. AAA Boys Soccer Championships in Burnaby and ever-so-close to being so much more.
The 16-school tournament places heavy emphasis on round-robin play. Teams must win their group to advance directly to the semi-finals. The Wildcats finish third in their pool but were just minutes and some luck away from being in medal contention.
They opened play by battling LA Matheson to an entertaining 3-3 draw. Matt Loveland scored on a cracker of a free kick from 30-yards out, while Jayden Jordan and Pol Terricabras added second half goals. The latter came off a corner in the final minute of play. The Surrey school then won a penalty kick shootout that served as a tiebreaker should the teams be deadlocked in the standings.
The Wildcats still controlled their own destiny but needed a result against powerhouse Argyle Pipers.
Another terrific free kick by Loveland, this time from 25-yards out, gave them a 1-0 lead until the North Vancouver opponent struck for a pair of goals in the final six minutes to win 2-1. The Pipers would go on to win the group and lose in the championship game to Reynolds.
McMath then closed out round-robin play with a 3-1 win over North Peace on a pair of goals by Logan Hooper and another from Loveland. The third place finish in their group meant the Richmond champions would be battling for ninth-to-12th place in consolation play.
The Wildcats faced a pair of Surrey teams to close out the tournament, scoring four unanswered goals against Tamanawis in a 4-2 victory. Hooper scored twice, with singles to Loveland and Jordan.
They then battled Fleetwood Park to a 1-1 draw before losing a shootout (5-4) to determine ninth place. Loveland notched his fifth of the tournament and narrowly missed out on winning the Golden Boot Award as the top scorer.
Hooper was named to the President’s XI team. Other veteran players to enjoy strong tournaments included: Sean Minato, Davis Poon, Nishan Dulay and goalkeeper Luke Rattray. The team also featured: Jacob Lorenz, Jamieson Lee, Zach Balen, Alsek Watt, Brandon Lum, Isaac Koeing-Workman, Jack Magnus, Jordan Roberts, William Rodgers, Jayden Jordan. Lorrenzo Bong, Philip Thrum, Nathan Nazareth, Ricardo Torre, Charlie Nistor, and Noah Watson.
Head coach Mike Quinn guided the Wildcats to a 11-2-2 overall record. His assistants included: Bob Minato and Hugh Hooper. The managers were Sammy Narduzzi, and Michelle Murry.
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