U14 Okanagan Whitecaps settle for silver

U14 Okanagan Whitecaps settle for silver after undefeated streak ends with 1-0 loss.

In an otherwise successful weekend of soccer at the Baker Bash in Bellingham WA, the Okanagan Whitecaps Boys U14 team were just edged out in the final of U15 Boys competition losing 1-0 to Surrey Guildford FC.

The weekend started well with a strong performance against the North Vancouver Royal Falcons. Robin Whittaker opened the scoring with an accurate long-range effort, and Andrew Stevenson added another before half time. Stevenson scored again to make it 3-0, with Brendan Melin adding a fourth after a strong run into the box. The Whitecaps controlled the game, containing the Falcons until the final whistle.

Saturday morning saw the best match of the weekend against the 2008 winners, Whatcom Rangers. Motivated and well organized, the local side looked dangerous from the start. A high tempo end-to-end match ensued with Robin Whittaker scoring the opening goal from a tight angle. Andrew Stevenson then got the second through a precise lob, before Whatcom came back with a well worked goal that gave keeper Jake Bainas no chance. However, the outcome was sealed when James Gass scored after Matt McHugh crossed the ball, although Whatcom made sure the excitement continued until the end.

After a tough morning match, the afternoon’s match against Nike Rush 94 saw the Whitecaps dominate from the start running out 6-0 winners with Stevenson getting a hat trick, joined by Melin, Jordan Garcha and an own goal credited to Salmon Arm’s Devin Popoff. The Whitecaps qualified in first place with a near maximum of 29 out of 30 points.

Sunday’s semi-final against Kitsap Vikings was the perennial game of two halves. Despite the Whitecaps pinning the Vikings into their half for most of the period, the Okanagan team failed to score, including missing a penalty. The game nearly turned on a rare Vikings break early in the second half, but Sam Bowers reacted well to clear the ball off the line. This escape energized the Whitecaps and the break-through came from Stevenson, who then added a second before Garcha scored the third. It could have been more but the Whitecaps missed a further penalty just before the end.

The final saw the Whitecaps meet a useful Surrey Guildford side and although a tight match ensued, both sides failed to capitalize on scoring chances. The winning goal came from a failure to clear the ball from the six-yard box and a fortunate bounce. Despite some good moves the Whitecaps couldn’t find an equalizer and Surrey Guildford came away the victors.

Although ultimately disappointing, the Whitecaps played some fine high-energy soccer over the weekend and demonstrated they could compete in every position on the field and conceded only two goals in five matches. They can now plan to go one better in next year’s tournament.

Popoff and defender Jeff Philbert are the only two Salmon Arm players on the regional squad that is currently second in the Pacific Northwest Division of the USL Super Y League.