Mark Cristante realizes the road to a Colonist Cup title will be a long one, but the coach has complete faith that his St. Andrew's Sabres are more than willing to endure the bumps along the way.
The Sabres steered their journey in the right direction on Wednesday, blanking the Belmont Bulldogs 3-0 at Reynolds Park in the challenge game that launched Colonist Cup play, qualifying them for a matchup against the No. 1-ranked Tier I Stelly's today at 3: 15 p.m.
In other Colonist Cup quarter-final play today, St. Michaels University School meets Claremont; Reynolds challenges Lambrick Park; and Oak Bay faces Glenlyon Norfolk School.
The winners will play in the semifinals on Tuesday at the University of Victoria.
Glenlyon defeated St. Andrew's 2-1 on Tuesday in the Island championship final in senior boys' single-A play, the Sabres' first loss of the season.
St. Andrew's, the top team in Lower Island Tier II league play this season, bounced back by toppling the Bulldogs, who placed eighth in Tier I action, courtesy of solid play in the back end and in particular by goalkeeper James Saville who fended off the Bulldogs' advances.
"It was a good win," said Cristante. "It's going to be a quick turnover for the boys [today] against Stelly's, but that's the way it is. Hopefully, we can come out on top again, but that is going to be a good challenge.
"Stelly's is very organized - good players and a great coach. It will be a tough challenge, but I think our boys are up for it both physically and mentally. One of our goals this season was to challenge for the Colonist Cup, try to get into the finals and win it. They've made it their goal and we'll try our hardest to get there."
On Wednesday, the Sabres were up 1-0 on a first-half goal from Ben Avila before Saville stretched out to make a diving save off Sager Bradley midway through the second half. The impressive stop came just before Patrick Piekarz made it 2-0 on an innocent-looking corner that eluded Belmont keeper Austin Bowles and went in off Piekarz's chest off the cross from Suhail Virk.
Belmont's Kane Johnston then slid an offering wide and Bradley then rocketed a shot just over the bar before Calvin Patterson gobbled up a misplayed cross, threw a couple of sneaky shifts and slipped the ball into the gaping net for the 3-0 lead.
"James was very good for us today," Cristante said of his keeper Saville.
To which Bulldogs coach Dennis Desrosiers agreed wholeheartedly.
"Their keeper is outstanding," said Desrosiers. "He's a first-rate keeper. He made some great saves. We had a couple of chances that should have been goals and their keeper came up big.
"They played a good game, all things considered, but there were a couple of unlucky breaks," added Desrosiers. "They are one of the best single-A teams in the province, though, consistently finishing in the top three."
St. Andrew's will also host the single-A provincials Nov. 1-3 at the UVic and GNS.
THE FINAL 8
COLONIST CUP QUARTER-FINALS
TODAY
? St. Andrew's vs. Stelly's , 3: 15 p.m. at Centennial Park
? SMUS vs. Claremont, 3: 15 p.m. at Lochside Park
? Reynolds vs. Lambrick Park, 3 p.m. at Tyndall
? Oak Bay vs. Glenlyon Norfolk, 3: 15 p.m. at GNS
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