North Shore News April 24 2013 by Glacier Digital

SPORT

Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - North Shore News - A43

YOUR NORTH SHORE GUIDE to THE GAMES PEOPLE PLAY

North Van trio ﬁghts for national title on home soil

photo supplied

NORTH Van’s Alex Comsia soars for a header in a game during the CONCACAF U17 men’s soccer championships in Panama. Comsia helped Canada ﬁnish third and earn a berth in this fall’s FIFA U17 World Cup.

Comsia World Cup bound

North Van defender a rock for Canada’s U17 team Andy Prest aprest@nsnews.com

Scan this page with the Layar app to view photos and video highlights of Canada’s run to bronze at the CONCACAF U17 championships.

IF there’s one thing that North Vancouver’s Alex Comsia learned during his team’s amazing run through the CONCACAF U17 men’s soccer championships last week it’s that no game is ever over until that final whistle blows. Comsia, 16, played every minute of the tournament in central defence for Team Canada as they pulled off a pair of incredible victories to earn bronze medals at the tournament and, more importantly, a berth in this fall’s U17 FIFA World Cup to be held in the United Arab Emirates. “When I was a kid you dream about going to the World Cup,” Comsia, who got his start in the Lynn Valley Soccer Association and now plays in the Vancouver Whitecaps youth system, told the North Shore News after returning home from Panama where the pressurepacked regional championships were held. “Now that it’s a reality, it still hasn’t sunk in, to be honest.” Canada opened the tournament with a 1-1 draw against Costa Rica and a 2-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago, earning a berth in the quarterfinals and one shot at glory — with four World Cup berths on the line each quarterfinal became a fierce battle for a spot in the big show. Canada drew Jamaica and it didn’t look good early. The

Jamaicans went up 1-0 just five minutes into the game and held a 2-1 advantage at halftime. The Canadian boys, however, remained confident. “We never stopped thinking that we could get a result,” said Comsia. “We kept pushing and pushing and eventually we got the goal and the momentum. We tied the game and from then I thought that we weren’t going to lose.” Canada evened the score in the 60th minute, then ripped in two more goals in a five-minute stretch to take a commanding 4-2 lead with 10 minutes left. From there it was all defence until that glorious final whistle. “As soon as the final whistle blew I fell to the ground,” said Comsia. “We’ve been preparing for this for a year. Since (last) April, our first camp in Italy, that’s the moment we’ve been preparing for. That was just amazing to finally achieve it. . . . That was an amazing second half. The front guys, credit to them, they put the ball in the back of the net. The whole team defended. This was the one game where you have no second chance, the one game you have to win to go to the World Cup.” The main job was now accomplished but there was still a tournament to finish and the Canadians found themselves matched up against the host Panamanians — and their vocal home crowd — in the semifinals. It was a taste of Central American soccer madness that most youth players from Canada couldn’t even dream of. “We were up against a hostile crowd of 10,000-plus people,” said Comsia. “I’ve never experienced something like that before. We couldn’t even hear ourselves on the field. Our coach was yelling at us, we were yelling at each other but it didn’t work. We couldn’t hear each other, we couldn’t communicate which, in a way, I think See Canada page 44

NORTH Vancouver’s Danika Carter, Alex Gulstene and Jenna Hewitt-Kenda are all suiting up for the Fraser Valley Phantom at this week’s Esso Cup, Canada’s national female midget hockey championship tournament.

The Phantom are the host team for the fifth annual Esso Cup running April 21-27 with all tournament games being played at Burnaby’s Bill Copeland Sports Centre. The Phantom opened the tournament with a 4-2 loss to the Edmonton Thunder Sunday in a game that doubled as the Pacific Region championship. The Phantom then lost 5–1 to Quebec’s LHFDQ Nord on Monday to drop to 0-2. The Phantom played the Regina Rebels, Western division champions, Tuesday night following press deadline and will take on Atlantic division champs Halifax Metro Boston Pizza on Wednesday starting at 7:30 p.m. The Phantom will finish preliminary play Thursday night with a matchup against Ontario’s North Bay Ice Blitz, also starting at 7:30 p.m. The Phantom are the first ever British Columbia team to compete in the Esso Cup championship tournament. Semifinal games are scheduled for Friday, April 26 with the bronze and gold medal matches set for Saturday at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. — Andy Prest

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