There’s no reason to think that divine intervention would come into play with something so seemingly trivial as a provincial soccer tournament.
But when all the facts are laid out in the amazing late-season run of the St. Thomas Aquinas senior boys soccer team, the results start sounding pretty miraculous. The Fighting Saints, who barely qualified for the playoffs after finishing in a tie for fourth in the North Shore AA league, capped off an incredible run with a 1-0 overtime shootout win over defending provincial champions Okanagan Mission to win the British Columbia AA title Wednesday at Burnaby Lake Sports Complex. To get there the team went undefeated in their final eight games — winning three shootouts along the way — despite being considered the underdog in every single match.
“It’s been a wild ride,” said Loui Salituro, co-head coach along with Fernando Grossling, adding that there was no talk of winning provincials when the Saints squeaked into the North Shore playoffs by coming out ahead in a tie-breaking formula against Seycove and Rockridge after all three teams finished with 13 points in eight regular season games. Not only were the Saints the lowest ranked playoff team but they were also playing without their captain, Isaac Ferguson, who broke his foot in the dying moments of a crucial 2-1 win over Seycove Oct. 21.
“(Winning provincials) wasn’t even in the conversation,” said Salituro. “It was like, just give ourselves a chance to go to provincials. We know we’re good enough to be there with the best of the best. . . . The focal point was just to get to — we called it the dance — let’s just get to the dance and see what happens from there. That was the main focus. There was no talk of going in and capturing a blue banner.”
Around that time, however, the team added a new wrinkle to their game day routines. Several players and the coaches would attend 7:30 a.m. mass before walking together to school. It was optional, and at first just a few players made the early morning trip. But then the wins started piling up.
“All of a sudden we have over half the team at mass in the morning,” said Salituro with a laugh. “The kids kind of did it at first because we asked them too — we made it optional — but they really bought into it and it was nice to see. It’s a faith-based school so the kids can kind of make that connection there.”
Properly centred in their faith — and dedicating their play to their captain who was now watching from the sidelines on crutches — the team took that spirit onto the field when their playoff journey began with an elimination game at Windsor against the third place Dukes Oct. 29. At halftime, however, the score was 0-0 and the Saints were being outplayed.
“I was thinking that this could be our last game of the season,” said Salituro. “Windsor came out really hard at us and we didn’t play particularly well. Our goaltender (Sam Macdonald) just bailed us out in the first half. It was all Windsor. If it wasn’t for our keeper our season would have ended right there.”
Macdonald shut the door long enough for the forwards to find their range and the Saints came away with a 2-0 win. One week later it was do-or-die again versus second place Collingwood and Macdonald posted another shutout to seal a 1-0 win. That set up one final provincial qualifier on the road against Cariboo Hill, the No. 1 team in the Burnaby league and also the team that knocked STA out of the playoffs in 2012. The Saints were looking for a provincial berth as well as revenge, and they earned them both. It wasn’t easy though.
“That was a bit of a crazy game,” said Salituro. “Our boys really got up for that game. It was a year, almost to the day, to when we got eliminated by Cariboo Hill last year and then they went to provincials and finished third. We felt that we were right there with them.”
Up 1-0 and then 2-1, STA couldn’t hold their leads and the game went to a shootout. Macdonald again shone — that’s a theme developing here — making two saves as STA won the shootout 3-1. The team that barely made the playoffs was going to provincials.
“We were ecstatic,” said Salituro. “Everything fell into place for us . . . we looked stronger each game out.”
Provincials began with a 0-0 tie against Hugh Boyd followed by a 1-1 tie against Aldergrove, champions of the powerhouse Fraser Valley league. The Aldergrove game was yet another moment where the season teetered on the edge as the Valley boys broke a 0-0 tie with just six minutes left in the game.
“Now I’m thinking third place in the pool, this could be like a ninth place finish in the tournament,” said Salituro. “But we pushed back.”
Star Grade 11 midfielder Dan Morello provided the magic for the Saints, blasting a free kick around the wall and under the crossbar with almost no time left to salvage another tie. Heading into their final pool game the Saints, with just two points, knew that they needed an outright win against Prince George’s D.P. Todd if they had any chance of finishing first in the pool. They got it, Morello again providing the winning goal. It came early this time, six minutes in, and STA added another before halftime before cruising to a 2-0 win.
The Saints were then tied with Aldergrove in pool standings and forced into a tie-breaking shootout to decide first place.
“They just get the two teams together on a field and have a shootout. It sounds crazy,” said Salituro. Macdonald again made his customary two saves and the Saints won it 2-1. “When your goalkeeper can save you one, and sometimes even two shots, that gives your team a huge advantage,” the coach said. “Sam has been unbelievable for us in net. If our shooters have the confidence that our goalie is going to come up with a big save it just gives them more confidence to come up to shoot the shot as well.”
The semifinals against Gulf Islands saw STA put together one of their strongest games of the year as they battled to a 2-1 win.
“We played a great game against a team that was a lot bigger than us in physical stature,” said Salituro. The game, however, was tied 1-1 with five minutes left. Cue more heroics from Morello. He ended up with the ball at his feet at the top of the 18-yard box when a hole opened up.
“It was on his left foot but he cracked it anyway,” said Salituro. “He’s right-footed but he’s got a killer left foot — it was just under the bar top corner. It sealed the deal. The kids were kind of looking at each other like, ‘Wow. We’re in the provincial final.’”
On the morning of the final the coaches told the players to get their rest instead of going to early mass — the two of them would go for the team. But when Salituro and Grossling arrived at the church they found it locked, no mass scheduled that morning. Could the miracle run end outside an empty church?
“We looked at each other and we said, you know what — the intention was there,” said Salituro. “I think we’re good to go, I think the big guy is still on our side.”
They’d need all the help they could get against Okanagan Mission. The defending champs were a perfect 4-0 in the tournament and coming off a big win over a very strong Archbishop Carney team in the semifinals.
“They were a very cool, composed team — very skilled, and bigger than us,” said Salituro. The Saints may have been outsized on the field but they won the battle of the stands — nearly half of the 600 students from the school were let out of class and made their way to Burnaby to cheer on their boys. What they saw was a very tight match that ended 0-0.
“We played our style that has gotten us to where we are,” said Salituro. “It’s probably not the prettiest to watch, spectator-friendly soccer but that’s the style we need to play if we’re going to be successful. It was a bit of a battle of attrition at times and we battled hard right to the end.”
Now it was another shootout, a familiar place for the Saints. Macdonald again came up with a big save and Ricardo Dutouy slotted in the winner to polish off the win. The moment the ball hit the back of the net, hundreds of STA students hopped the fence and stormed the field.
“It was pretty crazy,” said Salituro. “There was a big pile of kids on the field. It was a great end to a great run.”
Ferguson, still on crutches, couldn’t run into melee so coach Grossling picked him up on his back and carried him into the celebration.
“Isaac was a key component of our team last year and this year,” said Salituro. “I think the boys kind of rallied around his injury. They used it as a rallying point in the season and they kind of turned the page from there.”
Fellow Grade 12 Stefan Thomas took over the captaincy when Ferguson went down and the Saints kept playing their defensive, determined style of play.
“Our whole defensive line throughout this tournament has been absolutely fantastic,” said Salituro. “There was some luck involved with the shootouts and stuff but I’ve got to give credit to our guys — when their backs were against the wall they came through to put themselves in this position.”
So maybe it wasn’t divine intervention after all. Maybe it wasn’t attending mass that turned the players from also-rans into champions. Maybe it was that whatever they did, they did it together as a team.
“It’s a special group of boys — they’re a very tight-knit group,” said Salituro. “Things fell nicely into place for us and we took advantage of the opportunities when they came. It’s just unbelievable. . . . It’s one of those storybook seasons that really couldn’t have been scripted any better.”
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North Shore champs Sentinel secondary also took part in the tournament and finished a hard-luck sixth after losing their top two scorers to injuries.
