While an eighth-place finish for the Dr. Charles Best Blue Devils at the BC boys AAA soccer championship may seem a far cry from two years ago, when the team won it all, coach Dave Jones said it’s a sizeable achievement for a rebuilding season.
Hobbled by injuries and fatigue, Jones said the Devils showed “tremendous resilience” to finish preliminary play in the 16-team tournament second in its group, with a win, a loss and a draw. The latter was especially hard to take, as it came in the opening match against the Argyle Pipers from North Vancouver, which tied the scored on a free kick awarded right at full time.
Best rebounded with a 2-1 victory over the Abbotsford Panthers, but were then edged 2-1 by top-ranked Panorama Ridge in a match for a berth in the semifinal. The Thunder went on to win it all, defeating another Surrey school, L.A. Matheson, 3-0 in the final.
Best lost its final two matches of the tournament, 2-0 to Reynolds and 1-0 to Oak Bay.
The Terry Fox Ravens finished 11th after edging Sardis 2-1 in its final match.
