The U-18 Gold Chilliwack Attack won the B.C. Provincial B Cup Championship last weekend in Penticton, becoming the first local team in the last 10 years to secure a provincial title.
Chilliwack started slowly in their Thursday round-robin opener, falling behind 1-0 to Prince George.
Shaking two months of rust off, Chilliwack’s skill and depth took over in the second half. With midfielders Branden Klassen, Connor MacMillan, Jeff Janz and Justin Williams providing the push, Andy Choe set up striker Justin Stanton to tie the game at 1-1.
Zenow Renaerts set up the second and third goals by forward Chris VanDer Werff and the fourth by Williams for a 4-1 win.
Chilliwack blanked an aggressive Campbell River squad in their second round-robin game, downing the Island District champs 3-0.
The back line of Kyle Staiger, Jordan Lam, Patrick Bowie and Ben Ross was impressive, keeping things tidy around keeper Jamie Freeman.
Freeman came up big when called upon.
Thomas Davies and Cole Ewart scored in the third game, a 2-1 win over Richmond United.
Chilliwack strikers Ewart, Stanton and Gerrid Crowe were unstoppable in the final game against Nelson.
Already up 3-0, with a provincial title in sight, Janz was taken down in the box and Renaerts nailed the penalty shot to put the game out of reach.
The final was 5-1.
The win capped off a near perfect year for the Attack.
The team of 1993-94 born players also won a Coastal Cup, Fraser Valley District Cup, Conference Cup and District League title.
All told, Chilliwack went 22-1-1 this season, winning every Cup game they played.
Coaches Jason Klassen and Justin Heinze played key roles.
Other members of the team were Cameron Longfellow, Nolan Hisco and Landon Wiens.