U16 Celtic has become just the second team from the Ladner Boys Soccer Club in recent history to capture B.C. Soccer's Coastal "B" Cup championship with a 2-0 win over Westminster United on Saturday in Richmond.
Josh Murphy struck for a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes to break a scoreless deadlock in a hard-fought battle with the defending U15 provincial champions. The club's last Coastal Cup title came back in 2007, won by the U14 Ladner Strikers.
The core of this 1998 born team lost the U13 Coastal "A" Cup final to Langley United in penalty kicks three years ago. All of these boys began playing in the Ladner club system at the grassroots level.
The result comes on the heels of Celtic earlier finishing first in District 5 regular season play, winning Group "A" of the District 5 U16 League Cup and capturing Delta District Playdowns. Ladner's road to the Coastal Cup final included wins over Chilliwack (6-1), Port Coquitlam City FC (3-1) and Cowichan Valley Spartans (8-0).
The boys now enjoy a month off before preparing for the U16 Provincial "B" Championships, slated for July 3-6 in Richmond. The event features eight teams from around the province including the two Coastal Cup finalists.
The Ladner team also includes: Goalkeeper Isaac Embree, Spencer Richardson, Devin Basi, Matteo Corea, Jeremy Gill, Kyle Booth, Joven Gill, Jake Richards, Liam Deane, Hayden Iremonger, Brayden Kirk, Michael Wiechers, Brandon Freiberger, Marc Ashford and Logan Newman.
The coaching staff features head coach Tony Corea and assistants Dal Gill and Mark Booth.
In the U18 B cup final, the Tsawwassen Blues came ever so close to bringing another Coastal Cup title back to South Delta as the Central City Breakers Elite rallied from a 1-0 deficit to pull out a 2-1 victory.
As Coastal Cup finalists, the Blues will also advance to the provincials.
