There was still a championship to play for, but win or lose, the Panorama Ridge Thunder had already achieved the most important goal.
The Thunder edged the Centennial Centaurs 1-0 in Coquitlam Monday afternoon, clinching a berth in the final of the girls Senior AAA girls high school soccer tournament. More importantly, it assured the Surrey school of a berth at the B.C. championships June 2-4 in Kamloops.
Panorama Ridge was seeded sixth among the 16 teams in the Fraser Valley tournament, but are one of just two still unbeaten. After a 1-0 win over the Fraser Heights Firehawks in the opening round, they then defeated the third-seed Sardis Falcons 2-1.
The win over Centennial in the semifinal sent the Thunder into the championship game today (Thursday) in Tsawwassen against the top-seed South Delta Sun Devils, knowing they were going to Kamloops in two weeks win or lose.
“We’re not surprised,” said Derek Duke, a co-coach with Panorama Ridge. “The top six or seven teams have a chance to win it all. And all the games or close. We knew we were capable of winning it. We also know we could have been playing in one of the (placement) games still trying to qualify.”
Jasmine Grewal scored the lone goal for the Thunder against Centennial, converting a penalty kick in the 20th minute, one of the few scoring chances in the game.
Centennial, ranked second in the tournament, pressed for a tying goal to force extra time only to be turned back by a solid Thunder defence. Lynnea Yee earned the shutout, playing behind a strong backline of Gurneet Josan, Navleen Jammu, Nicole Doucette and Gurtaj Sahota.
– The Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers also play today (Thursday) needing a win in Chilliwack over Sardis to place fifth at the Fraser Valley tournament and clinch the final berth to the provincials.
The Panthers are the fourth-seed at the Fraser Valley tournament. After a 4-0 win over the Tamanawis Wildcats in the first round, they were upset 1-0 by the Charles Best Blue Devils in the quarterfinal round last Thursday (May 12).
They the edged the Yale Lions last Friday and Fraser Heights Monday by 2-1 scores to stay alive, before losing 2-0 to Centennial on Wednesday evening.
The Fleetwood Park Dragons were eliminated Monday, losing 3-2 on penalty kicks in Chilliwack against Sardis.
