Two soccer teams from this city might be representing British Columbia at national championship events next October.
Surrey United in the women’s competition and the ICST Pegasus men’s team have qualified for their respective Provincial Cup finals Sunday afternoon at Kinsmen Field in Aldergrove.
The Provincial Cup champions will advance to the nationals Oct. 5-10 in Quebec.
Surrey United has breezed through the competition to get to the women’s final at 1 p.m., after a 6-0 rout of Prospect Lake last Sunday in Victoria.
Rachael Pelat tallied three times for Surrey, with Katie Thorlakson adding a pair and Randee Hermus notching one.
It was Surrey’s second consecutive 6-0 victory in Provincial Cup play, coming off a Metro Women’s Soccer League season which saw them win all 17 league and cup games.
Chasing their eighth consecutive Provincial Cup title, United will kick off against Metro Women’s Soccer League rivals Westside FC in Sunday’s final. Surrey won all three matches between the two clubs this past season, winning 3-1 and 2-1 in league play last fall, then blanking Westside 5-0 in a cup game on Feb. 6.
“Sometimes it seems too good to be true,” said Martin Foden, executive director of the United club. “We’re determined, we’ve got talent. We’re scoring lots and playing very well at the moment.
“But it (seven consecutive Provincial Cup wins) can add to the pressure. You don’t want to be on the team that loses. But we’re still confident.”
ICST Pegasus will be seeking its second men’s Provincial Cup title in eight years after their 3-1 victory over VMSL rival Delta United.
Pegasus surrendered the game’s first goal, when a header from Delta’s Shawn Blakeway went in off a defender for an own goal roughly 25 minutes into the game.
Pegasus pulled even just minutes later, with Diaz Kambere scoring to finish off a passing play that involved Jag Gill, Niko Marcina and Azad Palani.
The Surrey side netted the winner in the 65th minute when Marcina moved the ball from midfield before setting up Sahil Sandhu at the edge of the penalty area. Sandhu then assisted on an insurance goal from Omari Aldridge with 15 minutes to play to put the game out of reach.
Pegasus will face Columbus FC in the final at 3:30 p.m. Columbus has not conceded a goal while winning three consecutive contests to reach Sunday’s championship game.
The two teams split their head-to-head contests in league play, with Columbus winning 3-1 on Oct. 10, and Pegasus posting a decisive 4-0 victory on Jan. 23.
