The ball gets rolling tomorrow for the North Central Zones in 100 Mile House, a soccer showdown between Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School and three Prince George schools for a spot at provincials.
The regional high school senior boys soccer championships are something the resurrected 100 Mile squad has been building toward this season. They've had mixed success against Williams Lake and Kamloops teams in the weeks leading up to zones.
The action starts on Oct. 30. All games are being played at the PSO bottom field.
Game 1 pits PSO against D.P. Todd Secondary School at noon.
Game 2 is top-seeded Duchess Park Secondary School against PSO at 2:30 p.m.
Game 3, at 4:45 p.m., will see D.P. Todd Secondary School and Duchess Park Secondary school.
On Oct. 31, the gold medal game between first and second place is 10 a.m., followed by an awards presentation.
The boys wrapped up the exhibition season with three games in Kamloops, Oct. 16-17.
They lost all three, but the last game was easily the team's best performance of the season, says coach Sean Glanville.
“PSO actually took the lead about 10 minutes in on a goal from Patrick Walker, set up by team captain Reid Davidson. The boys were really pumped to score a goal and they defended bravely and actually held a 1-0 lead at the half. In the second half, they were more than competitive, but Valleyview Secondary School scored on a penalty shot and got the winner on an errant cross that somehow landed in the net.”
Glanville says he knew the Kamloops teams were a couple levels ahead of 100 Mile when he booked the games, but playing those better teams helped them improve.
“Throughout these three games we gained a lot of experience. It was a huge help as we prepare for Zones. I worried the kids might get a little down from fishing the ball out of their own net so much, but they all kept positive and enthusiastic.”