A34 The Delta Optimist November 30, 2011
Sun Devils finish fifth at provincial championships
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The South Delta Sun Devils thrived in a darkhorse role, finishing fifth at the B.C. “AAA” Boys Soccer Championships. The Sun Devils weren’t considered among the favourites, having finished fourth in the Fraser Valley playdowns to earn a berth in the 16-team tournament. However, they had advanced out of the most competitive zone in the province and a battle-tested veteran team was ready for the challenge. The team’s lone blemish happened its first game, a 1-0 loss to Burnaby South. The only goal came in the opening 20 minutes. The Devils pressed hard in the second half but failed to find the equalizer, leaving them in a very difficult position with only the pool group winner advancing to the semi-finals. South Delta had little James time to regroup with an afternoon date with the McMath Wildcats, considered one of the pre-tournament favourites. The locals overcame difficult playing conditions to rally for a huge 2-1 victory. The difference was a pair of second half goals just six minutes apart. It was the Richmond school’s first loss of the season. The Devils closed out pool play with a convincing 8-0 win over North Peace. A chance to advance to the semi-finals were dashed when Burnaby South clinched top spot by playing McMath to a 2-2 draw, leav-
ing the Devils in second place. They moved onto consolation play where a pair of goals off corner kicks resulted in a 2-1 win over a strong Salmon Arm squad. That put South Delta in the fifth place game against Argyle where it prevailed 2-1 in penalty kicks thanks to three outstanding saves by goalkeeper Tait Cuthill. “We are very pleased with our fifth place finish but we knew going into the tournament that we could compete with anyone and we did just that,” said Sun Devils coach Stephen Burns, whose squad finished the season with a 21-7-1 record, that included a tournament win in Kamloops. “We did have the one weaker effort against Burnaby South. We didn’t play poorly but we didn’t play hard enough to create opportunities for ourMillar selves, which we were able to in the other games.” James Miller led the Devils up front with six goals, finishing just one off the Golden Boot Award for most in the tournament. Dylan Flamank earned the Commissioner’s 11 Award (team MVP) for his strong play. Some of the other departing Grade 12 players who will be difficult to replace include: Jackson Temple, Ben Wagner, Matt Jorgenson, Graeme Carswell, Brent McNeill, Rick Dethier, Ryan Shaw, Evan Ernst, Carson Menzies, Tait Cuthill and Andrew Kanerva.
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