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2018 BC Mens Provincial B Cup - Predictions, Results & Banter
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Canucks4Ever
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-2 each 
16 teams left:
FVSL - 5
VMSL - 4
VISL - 2
BMSL - 2
RASA - 3
Anybody's race...might not even be ANY VMSL teams in the final!
Realistically though, Strikers are the only VMSL team left in the top half and I'm not sure they are favourites to get past Abby this weekend. Bottom half has only Mission from the FVSL and, same story, they're not likely to be favourite against CMF Lupi this week. RASA/BMSL final?
16 teams left:
FVSL - 5
VMSL - 4
VISL - 2
BMSL - 2
RASA - 3
Anybody's race...might not even be ANY VMSL teams in the final!
Realistically though, Strikers are the only VMSL team left in the top half and I'm not sure they are favourites to get past Abby this weekend. Bottom half has only Mission from the FVSL and, same story, they're not likely to be favourite against CMF Lupi this week. RASA/BMSL final?
InanimateCarbonRod
Active Member
Red Devils are still in the mix, they had a bye for the first round. Dynamo vs Red Devils this weekend.
Tad Hamilton
New Member
The 2 remaining island teams are the top 2. They will put up a good showing..
The roadie to powell river is fun.....
Mr Sheppard Kisses
Active Member
Sierra FC 2 - PMO 0
First half Sierra controlled majority of the half. They moved the ball well and never stopped moving into open spaces. Even though they had most of the possesion, there were no real scoring oportunities for both squads. Last minute into the half their striker broke free from our defenceman and scored a nice goal. Second half we finally woke up. We started bringing the pressure and were moving the ball well. Were unable to tie it up having a few good scoring chances. With ten to go they got a pk and that was the dagger. They controlled the last bit of the game playing smart soccer. Dissapointed with the loss but the better team won yesterday. They cleary deserved it, and are a great team. It was a great year and a great season, im proud of our team. Best of luck to the remaing Fraser Valley teams, hope you guys kill it
First half Sierra controlled majority of the half. They moved the ball well and never stopped moving into open spaces. Even though they had most of the possesion, there were no real scoring oportunities for both squads. Last minute into the half their striker broke free from our defenceman and scored a nice goal. Second half we finally woke up. We started bringing the pressure and were moving the ball well. Were unable to tie it up having a few good scoring chances. With ten to go they got a pk and that was the dagger. They controlled the last bit of the game playing smart soccer. Dissapointed with the loss but the better team won yesterday. They cleary deserved it, and are a great team. It was a great year and a great season, im proud of our team. Best of luck to the remaing Fraser Valley teams, hope you guys kill it
Whoa! I missed it, Powell River is in this? The Villa?
I spent my summers in PR, and remember fondly going out to Villa matches when they were in the PCSL.
Awesome, and that is one tough road trip, for sure!
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This. Fond memories of a provincial cup road trip to Powell River, amazing support and atmosphere to be in!
Tad Hamilton
New Member
They will have 400-500 fans there, I mean what else is there to do in Powell River. And Yeah it is a great atmosphere to play in, only downside is its an average grass field.
Republic of PR
New Member
Dude I think those were just deep runs into the Provincial A Cup you would have seen at Timberlane Park as Villa never has had a PCSL team. Definetly a few good battles with NS Pegasus back in the day The 1995 A Cup Final was a classic.
Canucks4Ever
Well-Known Member
Saw that on the site...nice of the RASA guys to organize their own crossing, Steveston fishing fleet I believe. Should be back on the water just after dawn, enough time to bring in the daily catch on the way home.
I'm sure you are right. But the date goes way back, mid '80s. Thought for sure that was PCSL. I'm sure it could have been Provincials, but I seem to remember mid-summer games.
Herb from Villa was one of my Dad's close friends, and his motel manager for many years at the Hyatt Motor Lodge before he moved on to do the same at Villa. Big footy fan. I spent my summers in the soccer schools up at the oval. Fond memories, and really, not much to do in PR. Ride to soccer, play at soccer school, ride to the tennis courts, piss off the players every time I humped a ball over the wall, go to the Hyatt, piss off my dad for breaking windows, go to the near-empty Townsite mall and play soccer inside until I got kicked out by the guy who owned the furniture place (Mike Foley, I think), go to the lake, fish, wait for dad to be done with the day and head out on the boat to Texada, around the tip, buzz for coho, get back into the marina after dark, clean fish, bury fish guts, repeat. Those were my summers.
4thplacetrophy
Well-Known Member
@Canucks4Ever can we get one of those predictions again for this weekends fixtures please? Always a fun read.
Canucks4Ever
Well-Known Member
By popular demand...
I had a 50% conversion rate in my first round predictions, which is actually an improvement on last season where I only got three right at the first attempt. I guess it just goes to show that this column is rather aptly named! The five seeded teams are entering the completion at this stage so perhaps that can give me an edge. This year the seeded teams were randomly dispersed throughout the second round, unlike previous seasons where they were stacked from the top down, making the bottom part of the draw much more wide open. Things should be more even this season, or at least more fair anyway.
Completely Baseless Predictions
Men’s B Keith Millar Provincial Cup
Preliminary Round: 4/8
Overall: 4/8
Round of 16:
West Coast FC (RASA) v Graduates (RASA)
The Richmond Adult Soccer Association are on a roll this season. Despite losing a berth due to having fewer teams competing in their league, the boys from below sea level proved that this has not resulted in the quality dropping as both their teams competing in the Preliminary Round knocked off very good FVSL and VMSL teams respectively. Graduates took down a veteran Langley Sparta side rather comfortably 3-1 on the road in their opener and their reward is a domestic match up against RASA First Division League Champions West Coast FC. West Coast enter the competition after winning the league by five points but, perhaps more impressively, having scored a eye-popping 64 over their 21 games. That is an average of more than three goals per game and over a third of those tallies belong to RASA First Division top scorer Todd Anderson. Andersen banged in 22 goals, 10 more than the next highest scorer Nicholas Varley who had 12 goals on the season and also happens to be from West Coast FC. The champions clearly have the fire power to make a run in this tournament, but Graduates are not likely to be worried given that the teams split their three league meetings, going each with a win and then adding a 3-3 draw. They did, however, meet for a fourth time in the League Cup final where Graduates emerged as 3-1 winner and booked their ticket to the Provincials, despite their fourth place finish in the league. West Coast are the free scoring RASA Champs, but Graduates seem to have their number and they clearly know how to play knockout football. Make this one my Upset Special; Graduates to carry their momentum to the quarter finals.
Abbotsford Utd. (FVSL) v Vancouver Strikers (VMSL)
Vancouver Strikers were given a walk in the first round when Saanich failed to show up at Point Grey. Therefore, both teams in this one are coming off "byes" and we will see who is the fresher. It has certainly been a long layoff for Strikers; their last competitive game was fully a month ago when they were knocked out of the Vancouver Metro Soccer League's Division 2 Cup at the semi final stage, falling 2-1 to eventual champions Coquitlam. Strikers were unable to repeat the feat that has made them the only team so far this season to defeat Metro Ford who won the league and couple double. The Vancouver boys will need to recapture the form that inspired them to that victory back in October if they are to have any chance of progressing. Abottsford are the Coquitlam of the Fraser Valley League as they too won the league and cup double after being relegated from Division 1 last season. Abby are entitled to go straight back up but, in the Valley, things are rarely ever that straightforward, so who knows where they will end up playing next season. For now, they are focused on bringing home a Provincial Title to the FVSL; something the league has either never accomplished, or accomplished just once, depending on where ACBC were playing back in 2010 when they won the trophy. The Valley boys certainly are not short on confidence and have the swagger of champions. Having come up clutch down the stretch to win the league title on the last day, they then backed up that performance with a solid 3-2 Presidents Cup win over their local rivals the Red Devils the have proven they are able to deliver when the stakes are highest. They did this all with a relatively economic 31 goals for in 20 games and without a goal scorer among the top three in tallies for Division 2. Clearly Abby are good overall team and they should be favourite to make the final from this half of the draw. Strikers are the only VMSL team in the top half of the draw, so this will be a good gauge for where Abbotsford stand in the pecking order. If the Valley boys can get past the Vancouver lads comfortably then there is no reason to think that they cannot win it all come May.
Powell River Villa (VISL) v Fraser Valley Blue Devils (FVSL)
The Blue Devils used there home field advantage to great aplomb last week as they early kick off out in the Abbotsford had exactly the effect the would have hoped for on their Vancouver Island Soccer League opponents, Gorge FC. The Victoria boys barely fielded a side and Blue Devils took full advantage, running out 3-1 winners. This week, however, the shoe is on the other foot as the Valley boys must make the daunting trip to the sunshine coast to face Powell River. Villa will be keen to represent their league after woeful displays from the aforementioned Gorge and Saanich, who did not bother to turn up at all for their game on the mainland. The lads from the Coast certainly have the pedigree for it as Division 3A winners, dropping only seven points all season and putting up an impressive 56 goals over 17 matches. Their offense is lead by league Golden Boot runner up Jake Kenmuir, who bagged 13 of those 56 markers. Powell River has long been known as a treacherous place for mainland teams to play and many top contenders, at all levels of the game, have seen their seasons end there. Blue Devils have proven over the last two seasons that they are never short on confidence. As a Division 3 team last season, they got into the tournament by winning the Presidents Cup and then ousted Burnaby Selects White Eagles who had won promotion from the VMSL's Division 2. This would involve a similar sort of upset and while Fraser Valley certainly have the resume for it, with the travel factor, I just can't see it happening.
Abbottsford Soccer Association Red Devils (FVSL) v Langley Utd. Dynamo (FVSL)
Red Devils dropped the "Fraser Valley" moniker this season and now play under the Abbottsford SA banner. They were runners up in the Presidents Cup and drew a bye into the second round of the Provincials. That cup run was certainly the pinnacle of their season, as they ended up in sixth place, ten points off the pace at the top of the table and outside the five team pack that was challenging for first place. Langley Dynamo were runners up in the league and these veterans put in their usual tidy performance in the first round, comfortably easing past Burnaby Coasters. While Langely may have had the better league showing overall, Red Devils had the better of the head to head meetings, winning both by a combined 7-3 margin. Domestic derbies are always tough to predict, but Langley do boast a potential game breaker in the league's leading goal scorer Cameron Whitters. Both sides will fancy themselves favourites, and likely are both in with a shout. I'll say Langely prevent the three-peat on the season for Red Devils and prove why they finished four places higher up the table.
Coquitlam Metro Ford Lupi (VMSL) v Mission SC (FVSL)
A slight upset as Mission overturned a good, recently relegated, Metropolitan side from the VMSL in their opener. It was a narrow 1-0 win that essentially followed the pattern of Metropolitan's season, that being good, but not good enough. Students had their chances to change the game, but fail to take them, so now it is the Valley boys who will make the short jaunt down Highway 1 to Coquitlam. Mission are a plucky, never say die bunch who are always up for a game and rarley see a lopsided scoreline, either for or against. In fact, none of their games this season were decided by more than two goals and even then that only occurred on five occasions. Two lopsided early round Presidents Cup wins are the only outliers to that pattern of scorelines and that would seem to demonstrate a team that is capable of playing up, or evidently down, to whatever their opponent's level may be. The Valley crew will certainly need that ability to shine through this week as, with due respect to Metropolitan, Coquitlam Metro Ford Lupi are a step up in class. The number of games Lupi have lost over the past two seasons can literally be counted on one hand. They waltzed to promotion from Division 3 a year ago and were barley slowed down in earning a second straight promotion from Division 2 this season. They have lost only once all season and lead by Eric Dove and Dalibor Plavsic who scored 14 and 10 goals respectively in 20 games. CMF Lupi was born out of the frustration of players who were growing frustrated with the "closed shop" mentality of Metro Ford's senior men's program, so they started their own team and convinced quite a few talented players, one or two of whom could arguably cut it at Premier, to join them. The results speak for themselves and now, after completing the league and cup double thanks to their shootout win in the Division 2 Cup final over fellow title and promotion winning side Greencaps, will be looking to add the Provincial B Cup to their name in their lone opportunity. Mission will never back down but this would be quite the incredible upset if they were to pull it off.
Gorge Us-Guys (VISL) v Richmond All Blacks (RASA)
The Division 3A scoring table reads like a Gorge Us-Guys team sheet. Brendan Andrews lead the league with 17 goals in as many games while John Bakowski and Steve Gateley had nine and eight each respectively, plus Liam Leece chipped in with six of his own. That was good enough for four places - first, fourth, fifth and eighth - of the top ten in league scoring. Not surprisingly, they also lead the league in goal scoring as a team with 57 goals to their name; one more than Powell River who pipped them to the league title by a mere three points. The Victoria boys will be hosting the All Blacks from the RASA and the Richmond boys proved that they are not to be taken lightly in a first round upset over defending Provincial Champions and recently promoted VMSL Division 2 winners, Vancouver Greencaps. The All Blacks, who were second in the RASA's First Division but won the league's year end playoff tournament, are perrennial Provincial B Cup participants and have won the title on three previous occasions, but not since 2013. They were finalists the following season, but have since failed to progress beyond the second round, last season going out in the first round at the hands of FC Serbia. All Blacks are certainly a capable side, any team who ends the defending champion's season by handing them only their third loss of the season in all competitions deserves some respect, but Gorge are not going to be an easy proposition. All Blacks will need to rely on their league best defensive record that saw them only concede 20 time in 21 games this season to stifle the vaunted Gorge attack. This one looks to be a toss up, but travel is always a factor and I think a high flying Gorge team on home turf have to get the edge in this one.
Impero Calcio (BMSL) v 13th Legion (VMSL)
Match of the Round here as the Burnaby First Division, Rudolph Cup and League Cup Champions host perennial VMSL Division 2 runners up 13th Legion. It's deja vu for the Legion as at this stage last season they also faced a trip to Burnaby to face the BMSL champions. Then it was Sierra FC, but this season Impero edged them for the title by a narrow two point margin. Impero also got the better of Sierra in a shootout to win the Rudolph Cup and knocked off burnaby Gunner in the final of the League Cup. It was a clean sweep for the Burnaby boys but now they must welcome competition from the other side of Boundary Rd. It was another VMSL team that ended Impero's season last year when they lost to Greencaps at this stage of the tournament. This year they will be quietly confident of bringing the title back to Burnaby for the first time since 2014 when the Burnaby South Fighting Irish were champions. Helping them to that end will be BMSL First Division Golden Boot winner Lucas Sweda, who hit the back of the net on 13 occasions this season. Meanwhile 13th Legion are looking for relevance. After bursting onto the season as surprise promotion contenders a season ago, they missed out on going up when they seemingly already had first place locked up. They were second fiddle nearly all season to a powerhouse Coquitlam Metro Ford Lupi side this year and have not even made a Division 2 Cup final since they first became contenders. With no silverware to show for their impressive performances, you have to wonder how long they will be able to keep this group together and performing at this level. A deep Provincial Cup run would go a long way to restoring faith in their program and perhaps they could even take a page out of Greencap's book and use that as a spring board to promotion. To do so though, they will have to beat an Impero Calcio side that, much like the Metro Ford team they were in the shadow of all year, has only lost once this season across all competitions. This one should be a cracker of a match and both teams definitely have the tools to emerge victorious. However, the Legion just have not proven that they can get it done when the chips are down while Impero are treble winners, so I will have to back the Burnaby side to progress.
Gastown FC (VMSL) v Sierra FC (BMSL)
A really tasty one here and a match that looks to be able to go either way. Sierra were the definition of second best in the Burnaby Men's Soccer League this season and must surely now be seeing Impero Calcio in their nightmares. Not only did Impero beat them to the title by just two points but they also beat them on penalties in the Rudolph Cup final and knocked them out in the semi-finals of the League Cup. The Burnaby boys bounced back with a strong 2-0 win in their opener over a good Port Moody team from the FVSL with a resume not unlike that of Gastown from the Vancouver Metro Soccer League. Gastown were off the title pace in the VMSL's Division 2B, finishing well back of winners Greencaps, though they did hand the Irish lads their only league loss of the season. Where the Downtown based boys struggled was with dropping points to the teams in the bottom half of the table. In fact, Gastown only managed to do the double over Shaheen, who finished in fourth, one place behind them and Euro FC who were second bottom and ultimately relegated to Division 3 after losing a playoff. They also were embarrassingly eliminated from the Division 2 Cup in the Preliminary Round at the hands of lower league opposition. This sort of form explains why Gastown were just barely eeking into the Provincial B Cup rather than challenging for promotion. What the Vancouver club to have, however, is an X-factor. Michael Long easily won the league scoring title, putting up 20 goals in 22 games, eight more than his nearest rival. Clearly Gastown are capable of beating anyone on their day, but will it be their day this weekend? Thanks to the fact that they drew one of the random byes through to the second round, Gastown have not played for four weeks. Given their performances this season, it is only reasonable to wonder if they are going to be up for this one. Sierra, meanwhile, are bang in form and looking to at least repeat, if not better, their performance from last season when they were quarter finalists. Both teams are certainly capable of winning this match, but I'll take consistency to carry the day here and Sierra to advance.
I had a 50% conversion rate in my first round predictions, which is actually an improvement on last season where I only got three right at the first attempt. I guess it just goes to show that this column is rather aptly named! The five seeded teams are entering the completion at this stage so perhaps that can give me an edge. This year the seeded teams were randomly dispersed throughout the second round, unlike previous seasons where they were stacked from the top down, making the bottom part of the draw much more wide open. Things should be more even this season, or at least more fair anyway.
Completely Baseless Predictions
Men’s B Keith Millar Provincial Cup
Preliminary Round: 4/8
Overall: 4/8
Round of 16:
West Coast FC (RASA) v Graduates (RASA)
The Richmond Adult Soccer Association are on a roll this season. Despite losing a berth due to having fewer teams competing in their league, the boys from below sea level proved that this has not resulted in the quality dropping as both their teams competing in the Preliminary Round knocked off very good FVSL and VMSL teams respectively. Graduates took down a veteran Langley Sparta side rather comfortably 3-1 on the road in their opener and their reward is a domestic match up against RASA First Division League Champions West Coast FC. West Coast enter the competition after winning the league by five points but, perhaps more impressively, having scored a eye-popping 64 over their 21 games. That is an average of more than three goals per game and over a third of those tallies belong to RASA First Division top scorer Todd Anderson. Andersen banged in 22 goals, 10 more than the next highest scorer Nicholas Varley who had 12 goals on the season and also happens to be from West Coast FC. The champions clearly have the fire power to make a run in this tournament, but Graduates are not likely to be worried given that the teams split their three league meetings, going each with a win and then adding a 3-3 draw. They did, however, meet for a fourth time in the League Cup final where Graduates emerged as 3-1 winner and booked their ticket to the Provincials, despite their fourth place finish in the league. West Coast are the free scoring RASA Champs, but Graduates seem to have their number and they clearly know how to play knockout football. Make this one my Upset Special; Graduates to carry their momentum to the quarter finals.
Abbotsford Utd. (FVSL) v Vancouver Strikers (VMSL)
Vancouver Strikers were given a walk in the first round when Saanich failed to show up at Point Grey. Therefore, both teams in this one are coming off "byes" and we will see who is the fresher. It has certainly been a long layoff for Strikers; their last competitive game was fully a month ago when they were knocked out of the Vancouver Metro Soccer League's Division 2 Cup at the semi final stage, falling 2-1 to eventual champions Coquitlam. Strikers were unable to repeat the feat that has made them the only team so far this season to defeat Metro Ford who won the league and couple double. The Vancouver boys will need to recapture the form that inspired them to that victory back in October if they are to have any chance of progressing. Abottsford are the Coquitlam of the Fraser Valley League as they too won the league and cup double after being relegated from Division 1 last season. Abby are entitled to go straight back up but, in the Valley, things are rarely ever that straightforward, so who knows where they will end up playing next season. For now, they are focused on bringing home a Provincial Title to the FVSL; something the league has either never accomplished, or accomplished just once, depending on where ACBC were playing back in 2010 when they won the trophy. The Valley boys certainly are not short on confidence and have the swagger of champions. Having come up clutch down the stretch to win the league title on the last day, they then backed up that performance with a solid 3-2 Presidents Cup win over their local rivals the Red Devils the have proven they are able to deliver when the stakes are highest. They did this all with a relatively economic 31 goals for in 20 games and without a goal scorer among the top three in tallies for Division 2. Clearly Abby are good overall team and they should be favourite to make the final from this half of the draw. Strikers are the only VMSL team in the top half of the draw, so this will be a good gauge for where Abbotsford stand in the pecking order. If the Valley boys can get past the Vancouver lads comfortably then there is no reason to think that they cannot win it all come May.
Powell River Villa (VISL) v Fraser Valley Blue Devils (FVSL)
The Blue Devils used there home field advantage to great aplomb last week as they early kick off out in the Abbotsford had exactly the effect the would have hoped for on their Vancouver Island Soccer League opponents, Gorge FC. The Victoria boys barely fielded a side and Blue Devils took full advantage, running out 3-1 winners. This week, however, the shoe is on the other foot as the Valley boys must make the daunting trip to the sunshine coast to face Powell River. Villa will be keen to represent their league after woeful displays from the aforementioned Gorge and Saanich, who did not bother to turn up at all for their game on the mainland. The lads from the Coast certainly have the pedigree for it as Division 3A winners, dropping only seven points all season and putting up an impressive 56 goals over 17 matches. Their offense is lead by league Golden Boot runner up Jake Kenmuir, who bagged 13 of those 56 markers. Powell River has long been known as a treacherous place for mainland teams to play and many top contenders, at all levels of the game, have seen their seasons end there. Blue Devils have proven over the last two seasons that they are never short on confidence. As a Division 3 team last season, they got into the tournament by winning the Presidents Cup and then ousted Burnaby Selects White Eagles who had won promotion from the VMSL's Division 2. This would involve a similar sort of upset and while Fraser Valley certainly have the resume for it, with the travel factor, I just can't see it happening.
Abbottsford Soccer Association Red Devils (FVSL) v Langley Utd. Dynamo (FVSL)
Red Devils dropped the "Fraser Valley" moniker this season and now play under the Abbottsford SA banner. They were runners up in the Presidents Cup and drew a bye into the second round of the Provincials. That cup run was certainly the pinnacle of their season, as they ended up in sixth place, ten points off the pace at the top of the table and outside the five team pack that was challenging for first place. Langley Dynamo were runners up in the league and these veterans put in their usual tidy performance in the first round, comfortably easing past Burnaby Coasters. While Langely may have had the better league showing overall, Red Devils had the better of the head to head meetings, winning both by a combined 7-3 margin. Domestic derbies are always tough to predict, but Langley do boast a potential game breaker in the league's leading goal scorer Cameron Whitters. Both sides will fancy themselves favourites, and likely are both in with a shout. I'll say Langely prevent the three-peat on the season for Red Devils and prove why they finished four places higher up the table.
Coquitlam Metro Ford Lupi (VMSL) v Mission SC (FVSL)
A slight upset as Mission overturned a good, recently relegated, Metropolitan side from the VMSL in their opener. It was a narrow 1-0 win that essentially followed the pattern of Metropolitan's season, that being good, but not good enough. Students had their chances to change the game, but fail to take them, so now it is the Valley boys who will make the short jaunt down Highway 1 to Coquitlam. Mission are a plucky, never say die bunch who are always up for a game and rarley see a lopsided scoreline, either for or against. In fact, none of their games this season were decided by more than two goals and even then that only occurred on five occasions. Two lopsided early round Presidents Cup wins are the only outliers to that pattern of scorelines and that would seem to demonstrate a team that is capable of playing up, or evidently down, to whatever their opponent's level may be. The Valley crew will certainly need that ability to shine through this week as, with due respect to Metropolitan, Coquitlam Metro Ford Lupi are a step up in class. The number of games Lupi have lost over the past two seasons can literally be counted on one hand. They waltzed to promotion from Division 3 a year ago and were barley slowed down in earning a second straight promotion from Division 2 this season. They have lost only once all season and lead by Eric Dove and Dalibor Plavsic who scored 14 and 10 goals respectively in 20 games. CMF Lupi was born out of the frustration of players who were growing frustrated with the "closed shop" mentality of Metro Ford's senior men's program, so they started their own team and convinced quite a few talented players, one or two of whom could arguably cut it at Premier, to join them. The results speak for themselves and now, after completing the league and cup double thanks to their shootout win in the Division 2 Cup final over fellow title and promotion winning side Greencaps, will be looking to add the Provincial B Cup to their name in their lone opportunity. Mission will never back down but this would be quite the incredible upset if they were to pull it off.
Gorge Us-Guys (VISL) v Richmond All Blacks (RASA)
The Division 3A scoring table reads like a Gorge Us-Guys team sheet. Brendan Andrews lead the league with 17 goals in as many games while John Bakowski and Steve Gateley had nine and eight each respectively, plus Liam Leece chipped in with six of his own. That was good enough for four places - first, fourth, fifth and eighth - of the top ten in league scoring. Not surprisingly, they also lead the league in goal scoring as a team with 57 goals to their name; one more than Powell River who pipped them to the league title by a mere three points. The Victoria boys will be hosting the All Blacks from the RASA and the Richmond boys proved that they are not to be taken lightly in a first round upset over defending Provincial Champions and recently promoted VMSL Division 2 winners, Vancouver Greencaps. The All Blacks, who were second in the RASA's First Division but won the league's year end playoff tournament, are perrennial Provincial B Cup participants and have won the title on three previous occasions, but not since 2013. They were finalists the following season, but have since failed to progress beyond the second round, last season going out in the first round at the hands of FC Serbia. All Blacks are certainly a capable side, any team who ends the defending champion's season by handing them only their third loss of the season in all competitions deserves some respect, but Gorge are not going to be an easy proposition. All Blacks will need to rely on their league best defensive record that saw them only concede 20 time in 21 games this season to stifle the vaunted Gorge attack. This one looks to be a toss up, but travel is always a factor and I think a high flying Gorge team on home turf have to get the edge in this one.
Impero Calcio (BMSL) v 13th Legion (VMSL)
Match of the Round here as the Burnaby First Division, Rudolph Cup and League Cup Champions host perennial VMSL Division 2 runners up 13th Legion. It's deja vu for the Legion as at this stage last season they also faced a trip to Burnaby to face the BMSL champions. Then it was Sierra FC, but this season Impero edged them for the title by a narrow two point margin. Impero also got the better of Sierra in a shootout to win the Rudolph Cup and knocked off burnaby Gunner in the final of the League Cup. It was a clean sweep for the Burnaby boys but now they must welcome competition from the other side of Boundary Rd. It was another VMSL team that ended Impero's season last year when they lost to Greencaps at this stage of the tournament. This year they will be quietly confident of bringing the title back to Burnaby for the first time since 2014 when the Burnaby South Fighting Irish were champions. Helping them to that end will be BMSL First Division Golden Boot winner Lucas Sweda, who hit the back of the net on 13 occasions this season. Meanwhile 13th Legion are looking for relevance. After bursting onto the season as surprise promotion contenders a season ago, they missed out on going up when they seemingly already had first place locked up. They were second fiddle nearly all season to a powerhouse Coquitlam Metro Ford Lupi side this year and have not even made a Division 2 Cup final since they first became contenders. With no silverware to show for their impressive performances, you have to wonder how long they will be able to keep this group together and performing at this level. A deep Provincial Cup run would go a long way to restoring faith in their program and perhaps they could even take a page out of Greencap's book and use that as a spring board to promotion. To do so though, they will have to beat an Impero Calcio side that, much like the Metro Ford team they were in the shadow of all year, has only lost once this season across all competitions. This one should be a cracker of a match and both teams definitely have the tools to emerge victorious. However, the Legion just have not proven that they can get it done when the chips are down while Impero are treble winners, so I will have to back the Burnaby side to progress.
Gastown FC (VMSL) v Sierra FC (BMSL)
A really tasty one here and a match that looks to be able to go either way. Sierra were the definition of second best in the Burnaby Men's Soccer League this season and must surely now be seeing Impero Calcio in their nightmares. Not only did Impero beat them to the title by just two points but they also beat them on penalties in the Rudolph Cup final and knocked them out in the semi-finals of the League Cup. The Burnaby boys bounced back with a strong 2-0 win in their opener over a good Port Moody team from the FVSL with a resume not unlike that of Gastown from the Vancouver Metro Soccer League. Gastown were off the title pace in the VMSL's Division 2B, finishing well back of winners Greencaps, though they did hand the Irish lads their only league loss of the season. Where the Downtown based boys struggled was with dropping points to the teams in the bottom half of the table. In fact, Gastown only managed to do the double over Shaheen, who finished in fourth, one place behind them and Euro FC who were second bottom and ultimately relegated to Division 3 after losing a playoff. They also were embarrassingly eliminated from the Division 2 Cup in the Preliminary Round at the hands of lower league opposition. This sort of form explains why Gastown were just barely eeking into the Provincial B Cup rather than challenging for promotion. What the Vancouver club to have, however, is an X-factor. Michael Long easily won the league scoring title, putting up 20 goals in 22 games, eight more than his nearest rival. Clearly Gastown are capable of beating anyone on their day, but will it be their day this weekend? Thanks to the fact that they drew one of the random byes through to the second round, Gastown have not played for four weeks. Given their performances this season, it is only reasonable to wonder if they are going to be up for this one. Sierra, meanwhile, are bang in form and looking to at least repeat, if not better, their performance from last season when they were quarter finalists. Both teams are certainly capable of winning this match, but I'll take consistency to carry the day here and Sierra to advance.
Hah, you know you're doing a good write-up when you can win some BODs!
Just checked in to say, roll on you fcuking Dynamo, and if the Blue Devils want them a veteran mercenary for the trip, sign me up! Always wanted to play a meaningful game In Powell River. Have fun, and keep the legs warm & active on the boats!
Just checked in to say, roll on you fcuking Dynamo, and if the Blue Devils want them a veteran mercenary for the trip, sign me up! Always wanted to play a meaningful game In Powell River. Have fun, and keep the legs warm & active on the boats!
cascadesoccer
Well-Known Member
Don’t forget to hit TC’s and the West after the game for some pints!
Crowndevil
New Member
West Coast FC 1-0 graduates
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