West Van FC had its collective life sucked out of it twice in the men鈥檚 A soccer championship final of the 2013 sa国际传媒 Province Cup on Saturday night at Westhills Stadium in Langford.
Just three minutes in, defender Drew Gelley was given a red card and Colin Streckmann delivered from the penalty spot for the Surrey United Firefighters, which defended its provincial title with a 1-0 win.
Streckmann made no mistake, going low and hard to West Van keeper Garth Lagasse鈥檚 right, for the early advantage.
Down to 10 men from that point on, West Van 鈥� despite being the more aggressive side 鈥� could not deliver the tying goal in the highlight matchup of the eight-game day.
With Surrey United sitting back, West Van鈥檚 tying goal appeared to finally materialize, but a penalty kick was squandered in the 54th minute as Paul Dailly was stopped by Surrey keeper Andrew Fink after Joseph Martin brought down Justin Wallace in the box.
鈥淚t was a big advantage to be up a man early, although it was clearly a red card,鈥� said Surrey head coach Rob Reed. 鈥淭o their credit, West Van did not give up. They are not made to quit. I know that team very well and it was an incredible performance, really.鈥�
The save by Fink salvaged the win and sucked whatever life was left in West Van.
鈥淚t was a huge save, colossal,鈥� said a relieved Reed. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 come any bigger.鈥�
Wallace also drove a shot just over the bar in the 77th minute for West Van, which had defeated Cowichan FC 3-1 in the semifinals last Sunday in Duncan.
鈥淓ven with the loss [of Gelley to the red card], I thought it was our game,鈥� said West Van manager Andy Bramley. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 be more proud of them. If that penalty kick went in, maybe it鈥檚 different, but it didn鈥檛.鈥�
The men鈥檚 game followed Gorge FC鈥檚 2-1 loss to Burnaby Selects in the Women鈥檚 B championship game as Kate Sequin鈥檚 tally in the 68th minute held up as the winner.
Jennifer Morrison had opened the scoring for Burnaby in the ninth minute before Tegan Lang tied it in the 36th minute for the locals, who pressed late but couldn鈥檛 equalize.
鈥淭he girls played fabulous. It was just unfortunate,鈥� said Gorge head coach Rick Zaharia. 鈥淭hey went down to 10 players and we just started pressing, but we just couldn鈥檛 put the ball in the back of the net.鈥�
Earlier on, Gorge FC lost 3-0 in the Women鈥檚 Classic game to Coastal FC Supra at Goudy Field.
In the women鈥檚 A final, Surrey United won its 10th straight title defeating North Shore 1-0.
Other results included: Guildford FC 1 West Van FC 0 in the men鈥檚 U-21 final; Richmond All Blacks 5 Sarajevo FC 0 in men鈥檚 B; Columbus FC 4 North Delta SC Rangers 0 in men鈥檚 Masters; Langley United 3 Central City Breakers United 2 in women鈥檚 U-21.
The men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 A champs advance to nationals in Halifax in October, while Coastal FC Supra and Columbus FC (recently inducted into the Canadian soccer hall of fame) qualify for Westerns in September, which will, oddly, be held in Quebec.
