Being the bridesmaid time and time again just shows how close the Archbishop Carney Stars senior girls soccer team is to soon being the belle of the ball.
The Stars placed second Friday for the fifth straight year at the B.C. Catholic Cup, which they played host to with seven other teams competing.
The Stars were spilled 3-0 by Burnaby's St. Thomas More in the final in a game the Stars battled hard the whole way but just failed to capitalize on their chances.
"The team played a great tournament," said Carney athletic director Joel Ditson. "[We] finished second for the fifth straight year which, while somewhat disappointing, is a testament to the quality of soccer players we have here."
Carney's Pam Scowby and Daniella Smith were selected to the Cup's Twist Conditioning all-star squad, with Smith joining Julia Conzon of North Vancouver's St. Thomas Aquinas as recipients of the 2012 BC Catholic Cup post-secondary scholarships.
Other competing teams at the tournament included Immaculata, Notre Dame, Little Flower Academy, St. Pat's and Holy Cross.
TRI-CITIES PAIR TO EUROPE
Logan Chung from Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam's Carsen Maurice are two of 13 boys from the Excel Soccer Academy departing Friday for Europe to showcase their skills and toil against some of the top professional youth academy teams.
The group will spend five days in England and plays two games - against Conventry City and Tottenham.
The team will then move on to Italy and plays Bologna FC, Inter Milan, Brescia, Verona Hills and a fifth club yet to be determined.
"I'm very excited to go on this trip and play against some good teams," Chung said.
Added Maurice: "I want to be professional soccer player some day, so seeing where the professionals plays could be a big help."
The squad, including players from Burnaby, Kelowna, Maple Ridge, Vancouver and West Vancouver, was selected by Josh Smith, a staff coach with Excel Soccer who's heading up the team.
"What I've tried to do is bring together a group of highly skilled, like-minded players who love playing the game and will have no problem integrating in a short time," Smith said.
GUNNERS IN U21 FINAL
While the two Tri-City teams were bounced in Sunday's semifinals of the men's Provincial 'A' Cup soccer tournament, the Port Moody Gunners advanced to the Under-21 final by winning a wild 6-4 showdown with Victoria's Gordon Head.
The Gunners will now take on the Victoria Highlanders, who out-lasted Rino's Vancouver 5-3 in the other semi and will square off in the championship versus PoMo on May 12.
Meanwhile, PoCo City FC were tripped 1-0 by the Surrey United Firefighters and Coquitlam Metro-Ford Wolves fell by the same score to Delta United in the Provincial 'A' Cup semis.
Also, the PoCo Castillians were blanked 1-0 as well by Westside FC in the men's Masters Cup bracket semifinals.
