With close to seven months of league and cup play now behind them, 30 men’s and women’s soccer teams are hoping to still be playing five weeks from now.
The draws for the 20-team men’s and 10-team women’s Provincial Cup tournaments were made by the B.C. Soccer Association Monday afternoon in Vancouver. The two respective provincial champions will be declared after the cup finals May 15 in Aldergrove, with the winners advancing to national championship competition.
Participating in the Provincial Cup is nothing new to the men and women from Surrey United, both of which earned the double this season by winning their respective league and cup competitions.
The United Firefighters men’s team, which has accomplished the Vancouver Metro Soccer League (VMSL) double for two consecutive seasons, has been a perennial contender for the provincial championship. But it hasn’t won since 2003.
They came close last season, but lost 2-1 to Gorge FC of Victoria in the Provincial Cup final on Vancouver Island.
Surrey will face VMSL rivals Columbus FC in the round of 16 the weekend of April 16-17. United won the Premier Division title with a 19-4-4 (won-tied-lost) record, while Columbus was third in the 14-team group at 13-5-8.
“If you want to win it all, you have to beat the best,” said Martin Foden, executive director of Surrey United and an assistant coach with the Firefighters team. “We seem to rise to the occasion against better opposition, and Columbus is a team that always plays us tough.”
Four other local men’s teams are also in the Provincial Cup, and all have a bye through the first round this weekend.
Because they finished first in the Fraser Valley Soccer League’s Premier Division, Peace Arch United bypasses the preliminary games and will begin play April 16 against Delta United, a team which placed fifth in the VMSL’s top tier with a 13-3-10 mark.
Newton’s ICST Pegasus gets Bays United of Victoria in their round-of-16 game. Pegasus was seventh in the VMSL Premier Division at 11-5-10.
Despite a 12th-place finish in the VMSL with a 7-6-13 record, the Punjab Hurricanes qualified for Provincial Cup play with a semifinal appearance in the Imperial Cup competition. They will be at home at Newton Athletic Park for their first game April 16-17, against the winner of this weekend’s clash between Fraser Valley league rivals Athletic Club BC and the Port Moody Gunners.
Surrey United is the lone local team in the women’s Provincial Cup. They have a first round bye, and won’t begin play until a quarterfinal contest May 1 at home against either Nanaimo United or the Coquitlam Metro-Ford Extreme.
Surrey has won the last seven Provincial Cup titles, and was a perfect 12-0-0 in Metro Women’s Soccer League play.
