Soccer Quest claims gold at Provincial B-Cup; Kamloops United earns silver at Provincial A-Cup

“Yeah, honestly, nerves during a big final, they were there, but I felt good,” he said. “I had my team, I felt we were ready and I knew we could beat those guys.”

Neither team bulged the old onion bag in the first half.

“They touched the ball maybe close to 20 times, but we had the majority of the possession,” Soccer Quest defender Mackie Reoch said.

The score was nil-nil at halftime.

“I was really confident we were going to win,” Soccer Quest defender Weston Greer said. “We just had to stay on our game and keep up the pace.”

Oscar Haywood-Farmer, always an attacking threat for the hometown SQ side, gave his club the lead in the 51st minute.

“Oscar came in and finished it far post,” Reoch said. “I was right behind him so if he missed or didn’t get the ball, I was there.”

Powell River went down to 10 men in the 52nd minute, hindering its chances of a comeback victory.

Still, the minutes seemed to tick away slowly, Reoch said.

Soccer Quest goalkeeper Mason Friend did his part to keep a clean sheet and, eventually, the final whistle sounded.

“Oh, I almost cried,” Greer said.

Soccer Quest coach Ryan Gentile expressed pride in his club’s work ethic, noting many team members have been playing together for years.

“As a coach, as a dad, I’ve replayed that idea of that whistle going for weeks or months going up to it,” he said. “When it finally happened, I was just so proud.”

The celebration carried over to the podium, where the B.C. champions hoisted the Boys U14 Les Sinnott Memorial B-Cup Trophy.

“It felt great,” Julian Gentile said. “I finally felt like we had done something as a team through hard work and perseverance. It felt amazing to win something of this level.”

Added coach Ryan Gentile: “Relief, in a sense, that no matter what happens in the rest of their soccer careers, they’ll have this to look back on and something they can be truly proud of.”

Soccer Quest Orange is not the only provincial medallist from the city.

The U18 Kamloops United girls claimed bronze last weekend at the Youth Provincial B-Cup on Mac Isle.

PROVINCIAL BRONZE. (Image Credit: Kamloops United)

Earlier this month, the U17 Kamloops United girls won silver at the Youth Provincial A-Cup in Nanaimo.

PROVINCIAL SILVER. (Image Credit: KAMLOOPS UNITED)

United fielded three teams at the A-Cup, with the U15 girls and U16 girls earning fourth-place finishes.

The Soccer Quest U16 boys placed fourth at the A-Cup.

by Marty Hastings

Soccer Quest claims gold at Provincial B-Cup; Kamloops United earns silver at Provincial A-Cup

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