It may be the perfect send-off.
The Centennial Centaurs defeated North Vancouver Argyle Pipers 2-1 last Saturday to win its third AAA high school girls soccer championship in five years.
It also capped a perfect season of 24 wins in 24 matches, an exclamation mark to the career of longtime head coach Larry Moro, who’s retiring from teaching at the end of this month.
Centennial got goals from Katlyn Johnson and Sarah Caravatta in the final.
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The Centaurs earned the opportunity to play for its third championship since 2018 by sweeping through the preliminary rounds with an 8-0 win over Mt. Baker and then defeating Panorama Ridge 2-1.
In its first match in the Championship round last Friday, Centennial dispatched Handsworth 4-2, with Kate Smith scoring he winner, then defeated Reynolds 4-1 later the same day in the semifinal.
The Centaurs won the championship in 2018 and 2019, then finished third last season after the provincial tournament was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moro, the head coach of Centennial’s senior girls team for 22 years, announced his retirement plans to his charges early in the season.
Smith said the news became a motivator for the team to send Moro off with his fourth provincial banner — he also won in his very first season.
“The amount of effort that Larry puts into the team must really makes us want to win,” she said.
“He’s definitely someone that we just want to do our best for,” added teammate Dani Cross.
Moro said while he won’t be around the school anymore to teach and counsel the students, he’s not ruling out maintaining some sort of presence along the touch line to help out associate coach Kevin Comeau who will take on full responsibility for the girls’ soccer program, as well as the boys team.
Gleneagle wins boys rugby championship
The Gleneagle Talons won the AA senior boys high school tier 2 rugby championship, defeating DW Poppy 29-10 in last Saturday’s final that was played in Abbotsford.
Meanwhile the girls AAA team lost its championship match on Saturday, 41-0 to Yale.
In the AAA boys tournament, which was also played in Abbotsford, the Riverside Rapids beat Lord Tweedsmuir 27-19 to finish in fifth while the Dr. Charles Best Blue Devils placed seventh after a 21-20 win over South Delta.
