Nelson Selects all smiles after bringing home the bronze medal at BC Soccer U14 Girl’s Provincial B Cup
By Bruce Fuhr
Sometimes winning bronze is just as good, if not better, than capturing gold.
The Nelson Selects scored in the final minute of the game to edge Powell River Predators 1-0 in the Bronze Medal Match of the BC Soccer U14 Girl’s Provincial B Cup Sunday at the Lakeside Soccer Pitch.
“This is really exciting especially score the winning goal in the last seconds of the game,” said Nelson coach Rob Borhi.
“We were under pressure for a lot of the game but our defence played well under pressure. There was no time remaining in the game but the ref allowed the corner and we were able to score on it, which was great.”
The U14 Girl’s Division is one of three titles up for grab in Nelson during the BC Soccer Provincial B Cup.
Nelson hosted the U13, U14 and U15 Girl’s Divisions while 100 Mile House hosted the boy’s categories.
The U16 to U18 Divisions, for both boy’s and girls, were held in Penticton.
Sophie Borhi took the corner, placing a high cross into the penalty area.
Two Selects converged in the ball — Michaela Anderson and Reece Hunt — lofting a high shot over the outstretched hands of the Powell River keeper.
The goalie had been recently replaced after the starter was injured late in the contest.
“Two of our players hit the ball at the same time,” Borhi explained. “We’re not really sure which player scored.”
Nelson opened the tournament losing 3-0 to Kelowna.
The Okanagan squad scored early in the contest as the Selects looked to get accustomed to provincial play.
Nelson then tied Surrey United Infinity 3-3 in a high scoring contest Friday to get some points in the standings.
Faced with a chance to advance to the medal round with a win, Nelson doubled Kootenay South 4-2 Saturday.
“We seem to get better as the tournament progressed,” Borhi said.
“We scored seven goals in the tournament, so we knew we could score,”
“The key for us was not giving up any early goals today and the defence playing safe,” he added.
Nelson also won the Fair Play award for most sportsmanlike team in the U14 Girl’s Division.
“Winning that award was very nice, kind of capped off the tournament,” Borhi said.
Winning the Gold Medal is always the ultimate goal for teams.
However, on this day winning Bronze was just as good, if not better for the Nelson U14 Selects.
