The Surrey Beavers have been waiting a year for this weekend.
Tomorrow (Saturday) in Abbotsford, the men’s rugby team will play in the Division 1 provincial final against the Nanaimo Hornets. A year ago, the Beavers fell 37-32 in overtime to Abbotsford RFC.
“Building off the success of last year, the goal since the summer was to get back to the final,” said Paul Kelly, vice-president of the Surrey Beavers Rugby Club and a player with the Division 1 team.
The Beavers have had a successful season in 2016-17, beginning with a perfect fall schedule that saw the Surrey side win all eight games played.
The Division one side got off to a slow start to the spring schedule, losing twice in their first three games. But since then, they are undefeated. The topped Westshore of Vancouver Island in the quarterfinals of the provincial playoffs, then stunned the one-seed Meraloma Rugby Club 28-5 in a semifinal game last weekend in Vancouver.
Jamie Beaton with two, Reid Gordon and Clay Ross scored tries for Surrey against Meraloma.
“It’s been another successful year,” said Kelly. “For the most part, we’ve got the same characters on the team as last year. Since we lost to Bayside and Abbotsford, we’ve won seven straight games.”
The Beavers kick-off tomorrow against Nanaimo at 1:30 p.m. at Exhibition Park in Abbotsford.
