The Heritage Woods Kodiaks senior boys soccer team is hoping the character and resilience it showed at the Fraser North zone championship will carry through to the provincial finals that are being played Nov. 21 to 23 at the Burnaby Lake Sports Complex West.
After winning six of its seven matches in league play, the Kodiaks defeated Moscrop and New Westminster at the Fraser North tournament before coming up against a tough team from Burnaby North that prevailed 1-0 to achieve the zone’s top seed at provincials.
Heritage Woods coach Giordanao Baldonero said despite the disappointing outcome, there was a lot he liked from his charges’ effort.
“I think we showed again our character and resilience to battle to the end,” he said, adding those are elements the team can build on at provincials.
Baldonero credits seniors like midfielder Matthew Purdy, forward Alan Diaz and goalkeeper Ben Vopni with providing leadership while Grade 11 midfielder Eita Sladek filled the net as the Kodiaks’ leading goal scorer.
Baldonero said a short, intense tournament like provincials, where teams play twice on the opening day then early on the second day to determine their seeding going forward demands players remain fully focused on the task at hand and never take anything for granted.
“Every team has earned their right to be there, so no one should be taken lightly”
Still, Baldonero said, it’s hard not to get excited about the possibility of bringing a first provincial AAA boys soccer banner back to Heritage Woods Secondary School.
“I think we measure up well,” he said.
The Kodiaks open the tournament against Surrey’s Panorama Ridge, Thursday at 11 a.m., following by a match at 2:30 p.m. against the Kitsilano Blues. The team’s final match of the preliminary round will be Friday at 9 a.m. against Lake City.
Talons fall just short
Heritage Woods is the only representative from the Coquitlam School District at this year’s provincial tournament after the upstart Gleneagle Talons lost its bid for to be Fraser North’s third qualifier by losing 1-0 in penalty kicks to the Westview Wildcats in the zone’s third place match.
📣 Got an opinion on this story or any others in the Tri-Cities? Send us a letter or email your thoughts or story tips to [email protected].
📲 Want to stay updated on Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Anmore and Belcarra news? Sign up for our free daily newsletter.
💬 Words missing in an article? Your adblocker might be preventing hyperlinked text from appearing.
