A lull early in the second half may have cost Archbishop Carney regional secondary school third place in the BC Secondary Schools Soccer Commission AA provincial boys’ finals, but it doesn’t kibosh the success of their season, said Stars’ coach Giorgio Santoro.
The St. Thomas Aquinas Fighting Saints scored two quick goals in the second half to take the tournament’s consolation match, 2-1, Wednesday at the Burnaby Lake Sports Complex.
Up 1-0 at the break after a goal by Thomas Powell on a penalty kick that was awarded when Nicholas Agafilei was hauled down just inside the box, the Stars seemed to extend their rest into the early moments of the second half. It cost them.
St. Thomas Aquinas pressed into Carney’s end immedaitely off the kick-off and were quickly rewarded when they were able to tie it off a corner kick. A few moments later Gerardo Villavicencio put them ahead on a penalty kick.
The sudden setback seemed to spark the Stars back to life but they couldn’t connect on the equalizer.
Santoro said the letdown may have been invevitable after a tough draw in pool play and an emotional 1-0 loss to their Fraser Valley rivals, Langley Fundamental, in Tuesday’s semi-final.
“Being up a goal heading into the second half, I think there was a lot of a sense of accomplishment that maybe we were there already,” Santoro said. “I think when you’ve done a lot work up to that point, it’s easy to have that mentality and see things drop a bit.”
Carney earned their chance to avenge a 3-1 loss to Langley Fundamental that cost the Stars a chance at winning the Fraser Valley championship two weeks ago by beating Brentwood College, Notre Dame and Windsor in pool play. Langley Fundamental also had a perfect record heading into the tournament’s final four.
Santoro said losing again to Langley Fundamental in the provincials took a lot of steam out his side.
“They’re a rival,” he said. “I think it wasn’t just a letdown of that game and not making the finals, but it was a letdown building up to hoping we get to see them again and beat them in a provincial tournament.”
Still, Santoro said, the experience of finishing fourth in a tough, short tournament like the provincials will serve the Stars’ younger player well.
“We came in with some pretty high expectations for some of the young players,” Santoro said. “We made it through the toughest group in the tournament, so whatever happened today continues as we’re moving forward. We’re in good hands.”
