The Clearwater Secondary School boy’s soccer team placed 14th in the province, after playing five games against other top teams in B.C.
“The boys played some really great soccer, worked extremely hard and all players saw the field,” reads a post on the CSS Boys Soccer Facebook page, created to keep the community updated with the boys’ progress. “We surpassed our team goals of getting at least one result and avoiding the bottom bracket!”
The 2021 provincial games in Burnaby was the first time the CSS boy’s soccer team had made it to the finals. When the announcement came out, and the team was looking to fundraise for their trip, the team quickly met their quota, thanks to donations pouring in from the community.
Over the three tournament days, the boy’s soccer team played five games, two of which in very rainy conditions. On day one, the team played against last year’s provincial champions, West Point Grey Academy and lost 8-1. Despite the loss, coaches Ryan Wilkes and Barb Coates “couldn’t have asked for more from the players.” Owen Sim was the lone scorer for the CSS team and became the first Raider to score a goal for the boy’s soccer team at a provincial tournament.
The following game, they squared off against another strong team from Southridge Secondary. After the first half, the boys were down 4-0, but rallied in the second to come back with three goals, two scored by Corwin Schieck and the third by Torin Murray (his first high school goal). The final score was 6-3 for Southridge.
The teams were rained on for their third and fourth games, making the playing conditions difficult, but they finished the day with a tie game and a win. Cold, wet and tired from the earlier game, the CSS boy’s soccer team picked up their first provincial win after a “gritty performance” by Matthew Lavigne and Corwin and Blaise Schieck with only three minutes left in the game.
Their final game against Osoyoos was hard fought and unfortunately lost, ending in a 1-0 score.
At the end of the tournament, the boys enjoyed a dinner and awards were given out. Sim was voted CSS’s player’s player and Corwin Schieck was voted the team MVP.
newsroom@clearwatertimes.com
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