It was quite the season for the KYSA Selects U16 boys who went into the BC Soccer Les Sinnott Memorial Boys B Cup looking to win a provincial championship last weekend.
The boys, who were riding a 19 game winnning-streak going into the tournament, managed to outlast the seven other teams to take home the championship. They were the only Kamloops team from the weekend who were able to make the finals.
In their first game, the boys dominated against Squamish United, knocking them off 6-1.
The second game proved to be much more challenging as they were down 2-1 against the RFC Rangers, out of West Vancouver, with only three minutes left to play. After two quick goals, the team rallied to win 3-2.
In the final game of the round-robin, Kamloops cruised to a 3-1 victory over the Kootenay South Storm to seal a spot in the finals against the two-time defending champs, Wesburn Galaxy.
The finals were as entertaining as any match as the two teams combined for seven goals. A late saved helped the KYSA Selects hold off Burnaby by a final score of 4-3.
"As Freddie Mercury would say, 'We are the Champions, my friend,' yeah baby," wrote head coach Victor Lizzi. "First Blaze boys team in 11 years to bring home a Provincial Cup! What a game. 4-3 vs the two-time defending champs Wesburn from Burnaby! And my son, what can I say, so proud of him. What a save he made to preserve the lead... A 23-game unbeaten run and we are BC Provincial Cup Champs!"
Twenty-three straight games... When will this team fall?
