The McMath Wildcats senior boys soccer team has qualified for the high school provincial championships.
The team, led by teacher coaches Nav Badyal and Mike Gomes, stormed through the Richmond championships with a 9-0 record, netting 53 goals and conceding only three.
That run took them to the South Fraser Championships, where teams can qualify for the provincials.
However, according to Baydal, the Wildcats played with a chip on their shoulders, being ranked as the number-seven seed.
McMath’s first opponent was the tenth-seeded Sullivan Heights, who were taken care of with a 1-0 win at Hugh Boyd, thanks to a goal from Grade 11 student Oliver Boogemans.
Next up was a trip to Surrey to play the top-seeded Princess Margaret, where Grade 10 student Alan Yin gave the Wildcats the early 1-0 lead, before the team eventually lost 2-1.
Wildcats win in overtime
The boys then faced a trip to number-five seed North Surrey High School at Newton Athletic Park, knowing that a top four finish would take them into the provincials.
North Surrey jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead but, in the 70th minute, striker Diego Llerena was brought down inside the box and Oliver Boogemans scored from the penalty spot.
Eight minutes later, Riley Oughtred outjumped everyone around him to place a header into the net to tie the game.
The game would need two periods of extra-time before Llerena would feed Boogemans for the eventual game winner.
The Wildcats then took care of number-three seed Fleetwood Park, 1-0, thanks to another goal from Yin who hammered home.
And in the game to decide the third and fourth places, McMath travelled to Seaquam Secondary in Delta, with the hosts taking an early lead before the Richmond boys banged in four goals, courtesy of Rafael Gomez (Grade 8), Boogemans, Ronan Kelly (Grade 11) and Carlo Sicilia (Grade 11).
McMath now head to the B.C. High School Boys Provincial Soccer Tournament, to be played Nov. 24-26th at Burnaby Lakes Sports Complex.
