BV Rapids U18’s Aaron Steenhof scored the game-winning goal in dramatic fashion to lift the team to a 2-0 victory against the SC Gunner Reds to win the Smithers Cup last Friday.
The Rapids dominated the Reds in the first half, spending most of the time in the offensive zone, but Reds’ goalie Chris Luther kept them in the game with some key saves.
Rapids’ midfield Matt Deveau came close to scoring the first goal getting the ball past Luther only to hit the cross bar.
It wasn’t until late in the second half that Rapids’ striker Dylan Oud managed to slide one past Luther to make it 1-0.
Minutes later, Steenhof picked up a pass from midfielder Ryan Wright and buried the goal in the net. “I took a couple of touches and put it home.
“It was a nice pass,” said Steenhof. “I was pretty stoked, I celebrated hard and just turned around and saw all my teammates coming at me. It’s a good feeling.”
Reds’ captain Dominic Imhof said his team played well, but got out hustled. “I guess we ran out of gas in the end,” said Imhof. “We started short and had only one or two subs.”
For the Reds, the loss is a bitter one.
“We won every game except for the last one,” he said. “The last, most important game and we lose, but overall, [the season] was good.”
This is the Rapids’ first Smithers Cup, and after an early exit last year, the team is glad to finally beat the Reds, having lost one and tied in previous games.
“I was really happy with the way we played,” said Rapids’ captain Simon Kiiskila. “In the second half, they started pressing us, but we did well just playing defence, getting guys behind the ball.”
