Beep beep.
The Reynolds Roadrunners, 2016 sa国际传媒 Triple-A champions and third in the province last year, are off to another speedy start in boys鈥� high school soccer.
The success of the Roadrunners program can be felt a few blocks up McKenzie Avenue as six Reynolds alumni play in U Sports for Bruce Wilson鈥檚 University of Victoria team, including Vikes freshman sensation Matteo Ventura.
The Roadrunners moved to 2-0 on the young season following a 5-3 home victory over the plucky Claremont Spartans on Tuesday at Braefoot Park.
鈥淲e have a core group of last year鈥檚 Grade 11s returning, and a strong group from our junior high team now in Grade 11,鈥� said J.J. Atterbury, in his 15th season of coaching the Roadrunners.
鈥淪o, we have the experience.鈥�
That helps, due to the deliberate brand of soccer the Roadrunners play.
鈥淲e are a possession-based team that is very composed on the ball,鈥� said Atterbury.
鈥淚t鈥檚 early days. But our goal is to get the highest berth we can into the Triple-A Island tournament and take it from there [into provincials].鈥�
Grade 12 striker Kaelan Cooke was in Grade 10 and on the junior high team when the Roadrunners won their first provincial title in school history in 2016. Cooke said he learned a lot from last year鈥檚 trip to the sa国际传媒 semifinals in Grade 11, before settling for the provincial bronze medal, and would like nothing better than to crown his graduation season with a sa国际传媒 title.
One thing is for sure 鈥� Cooke knows how to find the net, as attested by his four goals Tuesday against Claremont.
鈥淲e have played together as a group for so long, and are so close knit, that we know each other well on the pitch and know where each player will be,鈥� said Cooke, an all-rounder who also plays on the Roadrunners volleyball team.
鈥淭hat allows us possession and to keep the ball, which is our style of play.鈥�
When it comes time to feed the sniper, the Roadrunners鈥� distributors know at whom to direct the ball.
鈥淔inishing is my thing,鈥� said Cooke, who said he hopes to play at the university or college level.
The Roadrunners know nothing will be granted to them, as attested by their hard-scrabble 1-0 victory to open the season against the stingy Stelly鈥檚 Stingers.
The toughest challenge in Lower Island Triple A will come from Oak Bay, said Atterbury.
There are 18 teams in the Lower Island league and they are tiered by power rankings and not school size. So Tier 1 features Single-A notable St. Andrews, along with Double-A Lambrick Park and SMUS, joining Triple-A schools Reynolds, Oak Bay, Claremont, Mount Douglas and Royal Bay.
Tier 2 features Triple-A Belmont and Spectrum, Double-A Stelly鈥檚, Esquimalt, Vic High and Parkland, Single-A Glenlyon Norfolk and Brookes Westshore along with Reynolds-B and SMUS-B.
The schools will revert to their Triple, Double or Single-A classifications for the Lower Island playoffs and Island and sa国际传媒 championships.
All teams, however, are eligible for the Colonist Cup, which is the venerable FA Cup-style competition for Lower Island high schools.
