Skip to content

South Delta wins inaugural South Fraser playoff banner

Sun Devils qualified for their 19th consecutive provincial tournament by outscoring their opponents 15-2 in three straight playoff wins

The South Delta Sun Devils are headed to their record-setting 19th consecutive provincial tournament and they will have plenty of momentum behind them.

The senior girls soccer team captured the inaugural South Fraser AAA Championship with a 3-0 win over Fraser Heights on Thursday in Richmond. The road to the title included two earlier victories and South Delta outscoring its opponents 14-2 in the process.

Quick starts were the theme to the impressive run.

The Sun Devils jumped out to a 3-0 first half lead in their 4-2 semi-final home field win on Monday over the McMath Wildcats, then took a 2-0 advantage into the interval of the championship game. Fraser Heights and McMath took perfect records into both matches.

“We’ve got a lot of pace and we have been able to help give them a focus on here's the players we need to attack or here’s what we want to do,” said SDSS co-coach Brent Sweeney. “We’ve got some attacking options going forward so, if the girls can create a turnover, they smell blood. They can also get into really good positions and create stuff. That’s been our key from day one. It's something we have always liked to say to our teams is turn it on right from the start and these girls have been fantastic all year in doing it.”

The Sun Devils opened their campaign by reaching the final of a pair of pre-season tournaments, losing in penalty kicks each time. Now, with an unbeaten run in league and zone playoffs, a podium finish should be in reach at the B.C. AAA Championships, slated for June 2 to 4 at the Cloverdale Athletic Park.

“That certainly is our goal, to get out of our group and get into the semi-finals,” Sweeney added. “It’s a little bit of a war of attrition with the number of games that you're playing, but if the girls stay healthy, there's no reason we can't be playing for a medal and hopefully a banner. We really think we do have a team that can compete. I know Centennial has a very good team and there’s a couple of other good ones as well, but if you can get to those games, anything can happen.”