Last fall, a promising soccer season came to a disappointing end for the SMUS Senior Boys. They finished out of the medals at the Island tournament and missed out on a berth in the BC AA Championships.
This fall, the Blue Jags hope to flip the script as they host the Island AA Championship tournament, beginning Monday, Nov. 9, at the University of Victoria. SMUS opens the event with a 10:45 am game Monday against the Gulf Islands Secondary Scorpions.
“I think it’s a bit of unfinished business,” says SMUS Head Coach Shaun Foster. “We’re stronger this year and the boys have [a spot in the BC tournament] in sight. That’s been their goal since they arrived in August.”
Returning Grade 12s Sebastian Ely, Hendrik Dietrich, Remy Albert, Hudson Daly, Andrei Marti, Manu Achuthan, Milann Wenham and Josh Hobbs have helped keep SMUS focused on that goal. The Blue Jags have again enjoyed a strong season, going unbeaten against local AA teams and earning the top Lower Island seed for the eight-team Island tournament.
“Heavy Metal Football”
Under Foster and Assistant Coach Mark Yorath, SMUS has adopted a more aggressive, pressing style this year, working hard to win the ball back and create more scoring chances.
“To borrow a line from Jürgen Klopp, it’s not a symphony, it’s heavy metal football,” Foster says with a laugh. “We ask a lot of them in terms of movement off the ball . . . So many different guys have been chipping in. This is a good group – they are on it.”
SMUS topped the Lower Island AA standings with four wins and a draw. The draw came against GNS in the final game of the regular season, when the coaches rotated the lineup, gave the full roster extended minutes and experimented with different systems.
The Blue Jags’ only meeting with Brentwood College this year was a 2-1 loss in the Independent Schools Athletic Association Tournament bronze-medal game, with both teams using their full squads. SMUS also scrimmaged Carihi informally just before the season began, so Foster and Yorath have a good sense of the competition ahead.
The Road to Burnaby Lake
Earning one of the three BC berths up for grabs won’t be easy. Likely favourite Brentwood College, defending BC champion Carihi of Campbell River and Mark Isfeld of Courtenay all figure to be in the mix with the Blue Jags. Stelly’s, Lambrick Park, Gulf Islands and Glenlyon Norfolk School round out the field. View the Senior Boys AA Island Soccer Championships schedule.
The Blue Jags are in Pool B with Carihi, Gulf Islands and GNS. After their opener, they play GNS at 2:15 pm Monday, then close out pool play against Carihi at 9 am Tuesday.
The two pool winners will meet in Tuesday’s 2 pm Island final and qualify for the BC tournament, along with the winner of the third-place game. The provincial championship runs Nov. 23-25 at Burnaby Lake.
A key for the Blue Jags is getting healthy after injuries to several important players in recent weeks. That gave a silver lining to last week’s 2-0 Colonist Cup quarterfinal loss to a talented Royal Bay squad: some much-needed time off heading into Islands.
“We’ve just got to work on our fitness and getting some players healthy, but the boys are getting it,” Foster says.
The injuries have also highlighted how much deeper this squad is than last year’s, giving the Blue Jags extra confidence.
“Really, for us, it’s going to be mostly about mentality and avoiding momentary lapses,” Foster says. “I think we’ve got a shot to get through Islands. And if we do that, anything can happen.”
