Davis Cup soccer tournament gets underway

The Davis Cup is underway, with soccer teams from across the northwest meeting in Terrace to vie for the Riverboat Days tournament crown.

The tournament has both a men’s and women’s side, as well as an over-35 and youth divisions. The games got underway on Friday night, and will continue through the weekend with finals coming on Monday.

There was early action for Prince Rupert side Kaien Island FC as they took on Gitanyow in the opening game of the men’s draw. Backed by a pair of goals each from Elias Tsakonas and Konur Erkan, the Rupert side came away with a decisive 7-3 victory to kick off the competition.

Kaien Island will now be moving on to play Northern FC on Saturday morning. The tournament format allows for teams to suffer one loss, at which point they will be knocked down into the Loser’s Bracket. From there they will need to play extra games against fellow defeated teams, with a chance to make the final if they win them all. The winner of all their games from the main bracket will then meet them in the final.

Prince Rupert FC are also in the competition, and were awarded a first round bye for the tournament. Their first game is set for Saturday afternoon, and will be against the winner of Saturday morning’s matchup between the Terrace Northmen and Smithers.

The Prince Rupert FC men came in third place out of seven teams at the Haisla Annual Soccer Tournament despite missing a portion of their players for the majority of the tournament. (Cassandra Crockett photo)

The Prince Rupert FC women won their third tournament in a row at the Haisla Annual Soccer Tournament in Kitimat. (Jessica Lindstrom photo)

The Prince Rupert FC women will be looking to continue their dominance of the northwest women’s soccer landscape when they take to the field, having won three tournaments in a row. The women won their first ever tournament in Kitwanga in May, defeating the Terrace Providers in the final.

They followed this up with a win at home by going undefeated in the Seafest tournament before scoring their hat trick of tournament wins in July by once again beating the Providers in the final of the Haisla tournament in Kitimat.

Alex Kurial | Sports Reporter

Alex Kurial