IT was an excellent weekend for West Vancouver soccer.
West Van FC captured the Vancouver Metro Soccer League's Imperial Cup on April 1 with a hard fought win over Surrey United Firefighters. The 1-0 victory came in front of more than 300 spectators at Kinsman Stadium in North Vancouver.
"It was a pretty tight and physical game," West Van FC defender Leo Nash said. "It's always chippy when we play Surrey."
West Vancouver got off to a slow start but they eventually generated plenty of scoring chances.
"We did have some very good chances throughout the game," Nash said. "We had a ton of pressure."
United keeper Paul Shepherd made a number of great saves to keep the Firefighters in the game.
"I don't know how he made a few of those saves," Nash said. "It was frustrating for myself as a defender seeing our strikers have such good chances and getting off good shots."
Tied 0-0 after 90 minutes, the game went into overtime and appeared headed for a shootout when West Van finally broke through in the 114th minute. Gary Anderson's shot was blocked by a United defender but midfielder Tim Perry drilled home the rebound from roughly 10 yards out. The 1-0 win gave West Van the coveted Imperial Cup, a trophy awarded to Vancouver-area men's teams since 1913.
Nash and the rest of the club are now preparing for Provincial Cup play, which will begin on April 14.
"We hope we can win it," Nash said. "We won it in 2009 and we're hoping to get back into the finals and obviously win it so we can head off to the nationals."
West Vancouver is regarded as one of the favourites heading into the Provincial Cup but Nash knows it won't be a walk in the park.
"We know there are going to be some tough games," he said. "It's good to be the favourite. Obviously it does put a bit of pressure on you but pressure is good in these types of games anyways."
On March 31 the West Van FC U21 team won the VMSL U21 League Cup with a 1-0 victory over Langley United. Nash is also the head coach of the U21 team and said the game was very tight.
"I knew that playing Langley it was going to be a very tough game," he said. "They finished the season three points behind us in the league standings. They were a very good team."
Injuries forced the West Van FC U21s to field just 12 healthy players in final the game.
"We had five guys that were on the bench that were all injured and I had to make them dress," Nash said. "If we needed a sub, then obviously someone had to go in."
Fortunately for Nash and the U21s that wasn't the case. West Vancouver defender Will Robson's goal in the 35th minute proved to be the eventual game winner.
"We couldn't get the second goal as an insurance marker but we got the job done," Nash said.
The West Van FC U21's finished first in their league this season with a record of 16-1-3. The club also managed to score more than 100 times in just a 20 game season.
"We pretty much dominated the league," Nash said. Heading into the provincial tournament the U21's are heavily favoured to win the Cup. Nash said there is some added pressure on the coaching staff.
"I don't think my guys will look at it as pressure. They just go out and play," Nash said.
"I think for myself and manager Andy Bramley, we will be feeling the pressure a bit."
With two trophies this season the West Van FC U21's are looking to complete the treble by winning the U21 Provincial Cup.
"I know along the way that there are going to be teams from the Island and Fraser Valley that will be very tough that we have never seen before," Nash said.
Another West Vancouver soccer team also claimed a victory this past weekend, rounding out a triple championship for the club.
The West Van FC Flying Horses Over-35's team won the VMSL Masters B Cup final with a 6-3 win over Croatia SC on March 31.
