Three Surrey schools placed among the top four at the B.C. Senior AAA girls high school soccer championships in Saanichton last weekend.
After an all-Fraser Valley playoff, the Fleetwood Park Dragons settled for silver medals after a 2-1 loss to the Charles Best Blue Devils of Coquitlam in the championship game.
The Panorama Ridge Thunder topped the Elgin Park Orcas, also by a 2-1 score, in the bronze medal match.
For the Dragons, the loss in the final left Fleetwood Park one goal short of defending the B.C. championship won a year ago.
“I am so proud of the girls,” said head coach Sunny Uppal. “Back to back provincial finalists is quite the achievement, and we represented Fleetwood Park well.”
The Dragons needed a shootout to reach the playoff round. After wins by scores of 6-1 over the Burnaby North Vikings and 5-1 over the Mt. Baker Wild of Cranbrook, they played to a scoreless tie with Richmond’s McMath Wildcats. Fleetwood Park edged McMatch in a shootout to finish atop the group.
The Dragons then edged Panorama Ridge 1-0 in a semifinal match.
“Our girls played extremely well every game of the tournament,” said Uppal. “I told the girls that we have to treat every game like it’s the provincial cup final, and we did that.”
Uppal credited Harman Billen and Liesanne Musico for their play at forward, Jessica Galbraith and Kayla Smith for hard work in the midfield.
Goalie Caitlynn Mackenzie and Grade 8 players Simran Billen and Jenieva Musico also contributed to the team’s success.
Panorama Ridge was perfect in pool play, finishing first with wins over the South Delta Sun Devils (4-2), Winston Churchill Bulldogs (3-1) and Oak Bay Breakers (1-0).
After their semifinal loss to the Dragons, they edged Edling Park 2-1. Montpreet Heer scored both goals for the Thunder, and won the Golden Boot as top scorer with seven goals in five games.
- The Holy Cross Crusaders placed 12th at the Senior AA girls tournament hosted by the Crofton House Falcons in Vancouver.
The Crusaders won their first game, a 3-0 victory over the host Falcons, but placed third in their four-team group after a 2-1 setback against the L.V. Rogers Bombers and the St. Michaels University Blue Jags.
In the playoff round, Holy Cross lost 5-1 to the Valleyview Vikings of Kamloops and 2-0 to the Notre Dame Jugglers.