The battle of the bays took on a spectacular setting as Oak Bay ventured to Royal Bay to break in the school鈥檚 new artificial turf pitch high atop Colwood on a sunny Tuesday afternoon.
There couldn鈥檛 be a more scenic setup as the Lower Island senior boys high school season kicked off with the defending triple-A Island champion Bays handing the host Ravens a 3-0 setback, declaring they will be a team to watch on the Island again this season.
鈥淭he guys played well. Everyone played, all 21, so everyone had a chance to contribute,鈥� said Oak Bay co-coach Richard Fast. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 trained a lot so this is really our first opportunity to see us in a game setting.鈥�
There was plenty to see as Jack Hill opened the scoring in the 15th minute after several opportunities had been squandered. Five minutes later Eli Cuthbert headed home Nick Hurley鈥檚 corner for a 2-0 first half lead.
Ravens goalkeeper Vini Barbaros did well to keep the Bays to just the two. Matti Grant finished off another Hurley corner to end the scoring in the waning minutes.
鈥淲e have a strong group of players,鈥� said Fast. 鈥淓li Cuthbert, who came over from the Whitecaps residency, has really helped us and Jack Hill, our captain who is playing men鈥檚 Division I with me at Bays United, is a superstar in my books.
鈥淚f we build the team through those guys with Matti Grant at the back and strong goalkeeping I think we鈥檒l be in good shape.鈥�
Even without Charlie Miller and Andre Earthy-Find, who joined the Vancouver Whitecaps U-18 residency this summer, along with Claremont鈥檚 Liam McManaman.
Hill, a 17-year-old in Grade 12, has a goal in mind for the Bays.
鈥淚 just want to win the Colonist Cup. We lost that one to SMUS last year and that pissed me off a bit,鈥� the centre midfielder said.
鈥淚 just want to win that so badly and hope for a long season with a lot of wins. It was a good start to the season and hopefully we can continue it.鈥�
As for the Ravens, they had their chances, none better than Tristan Austin鈥檚 through ball to Matt Alcadinho, who鈥檚 shot went high in the opening five minutes. Peter Jones also laid a beautiful pass onto Austin鈥檚 feet in the 25th minute, but that failed to materialize as well.
鈥淲e had chances. I think we showed some of our weaknesses today that we can work on, but some of our strengths and that was positive to see,鈥� said Ravens coach Moira Hood.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 most likely some of the best competition we鈥檒l have in the league so it鈥檚 good and bad to start the season like that. It鈥檚 good to know what kind of competition we鈥檒l be up against.鈥�
The Ravens will easily lead the Lower Island Tier I league in views, however.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unbelievable. I can only hope that Oak Bay鈥檚 turf will be like this, but I don鈥檛 think we鈥檒l have the water views,鈥� Fast said with chuckle. 鈥淎 pretty amazing facility.鈥�
The two teams are joined in Tier I by St. Andrews, St. Michaels University School A, Claremont, Reynolds and Glenlyon Norfolk School. Esquimalt, Spectrum, Stelly鈥檚, Vic High, Lambrick Park, SMUS B, Parkland and Mount Douglas form Tier II.
The Colonist Cup is set for Nov. 19 with Island finals still to be determined in the North for triple-A and South for double-A. Duncan Christian will host single-A Islands on Oct. 21. Provincials are slated for Nov. 26-28 at Burnaby Lake in triple-A and double-A and Nov. 5-7 in Kamloops for single-A.
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