The road to the Colonist Cup senior boys city soccer championship begins today with quarter-finals and all eyes are on two-time defending champion St. Michaels University School.
The Blue Jags draw newcomer Royal Bay today at SMUS, while 2014 runner-up and current No. 1-seed Oak Bay entertains No. 8 Mount Douglas at Carnarvon, No. 3 Reynolds welcomes No. 6 St. Andrews at Braefoot and No. 7 Claremont ventures to No. 2 Glenlyon Norfolk School.
All games begin at 3 p.m. with winners advancing to semifinals on Tuesday at UVic, also at 3 p.m. The championship game is a week from tonight at 8 at Centennial Stadium.
SMUS claimed the double-A Island title on Tuesday in a 2-1 win over Kwalikum and hopes that momentum carries them into the defence of their back-to-back Colonist Cup crowns.
鈥淭he guys will have Wednesday off, a well deserved day off and we鈥檒l come back [today],鈥� said SMUS Blue Jags coach Alex Redpath, whose team is seeded No. 4. 鈥淲e lost to Royal Bay [No. 5] in league play [3-2] so we want to come back and get a win. We weren鈥檛 happy with that performance, but I think after this Islands win their spirits will be high.鈥�
The Blue Jags turned over most of the provincial championship team from last season.
鈥淟ast year we ran the three-peat with soccer, basketball and rugby and everyone is thinking, 鈥榃ell, all the seniors have gone now,鈥� so it would be good to come out here and surprise everyone,鈥� said Jamison Schulz-Franco, who had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jags in Tuesday鈥檚 Island final.
He played junior last year and did not get a taste of the titles.
Oak Bay is also entering the Colonist Cup tournament on a high. The Bays are coming off a triple-A Island championship thanks to a 3-0 win over Reynolds on Tuesday.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been a little unfortunate the last few years with tough losses,鈥� said Oak Bay coach Richard Fast, whose Bays lost 2-0 to SMUS last year. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very competitive tournament and a very prestigious tournament and one we鈥檙e definitely wanting to win.鈥�
The GNS Gryphons have also had their share of success at the Colonist Cup, qualifying for four of five finals when they lost a heart-breaker 3-2 to SMUS in 2013, up 2-0 at the half.
The Gryphons, who were 4-1-1 in league play 鈥� behind leaders Oak Bay at a perfect 6-0 鈥� edged Claremont 3-2 in league play.
鈥淲e played them the once and it was a close game. I鈥檓 hoping our guys are rested up after provincials,鈥� said GNS coach Justin Parish, whose club played five games over the three days in winning the single-A championship Saturday in Kamloops.
鈥淚鈥檇 be disappointed if we didn鈥檛 get a positive result on Thursday.鈥�
Reynolds finished third in league play at 3-2-1, the tie coming against GNS. SMUS was 3-3; Royal Bay 2-3-1; St. Andrews 1-4-1; and Claremont winless in six games, but with four one-goal losses. Mount Douglas moves up from Tier II with a 5-0-2 record to face Oak Bay, which outscored its opposition 24-3 in six outings, making the Bays the clear-cut favourite.
As Bays captain and centre midfielder Jack Hill so elegantly put it earlier this year: 鈥淚 just want to win the Colonist Cup. We lost that one to SMUS last year and that pissed me off a bit. I just want to win that so badly and hope for a long season with a lot of wins.鈥�
Oak Bay鈥檚 form has held true, so far.
