FC Northwest dominates provincial soccer championships

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/09/2010 (5809 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Forget about Hurricane Earl — a trio of soccer teams from northwest Winnipeg is about to take Eastern Canada by storm.

Of the six youth teams recently crowned as Manitoba Soccer Association provincial champions, three are from FC Northwest.

The club will send its under-14 girls to Moncton, N.B., its under-16 boys to Vaughan, Ont., and its under-18 girls to Mount Pearl, Nfld., for national club championship competitions from Oct. 6 to 11.

It will be a second chance for the under-16 boys, who finished fourth two years ago when they represented the province in the under-14 age group.

“We have an idea of what the competition will be like from that trip,” said defender Stephan Melo, 16. “I think we have a way better chance than when we were 14 because the team has developed and is more of a team now.”

The Maples resident said a team trip to Portugal last October drastically changed the club’s style of play.

“We’re more calm with the ball, the team is stronger physically and we work hard every game,” said the provincial team member.

Head coach George Carreiro said the trip showed his players what sort of commitment it would take to play soccer at an elite level. He said anything less than a trip to the national final would be a disappointment.

“I think this team has a legitimate chance at a gold medal,” said Carreiro, whose son, Dylan, recently joined Toronto FC’s youth academy program, but will be reuniting with his teammates for the tournament in Vaughan.

The under-16 boys weren’t the only FC Northwest team to use the experience of an international trip to their advantage. The under-18 girls played in a major tournament in Las Vegas in February, and are hoping to apply the lessons they learned in Newfoundland.

“Everybody but four of the players (on the provincial championship team) went to Vegas,” said head coach Al Peacock. “Now they’ve got the experience of attending a big tournament under their belt. I’m sure they’ll draw from that at nationals.”

This marks the first trip to a national club championship for the team, after coming close at the under-16 and under-14 levels.

“This would have been the last kick at the can for the 1992 (birthday) age group,” Peacock said. “It’s nice to win it in the last try (in youth soccer).”

The team will face some tough games in the group stage against B.C. and Quebec, but Peacock believes his team is up for the challenge. Just like it was in Vegas — where they won a silver medal —FC Northwest’s goal is to make sure every opponent remembers them for a long time.

The under-18 team advanced to the nationals with a 1-0 win over Phoenix. Tournament MVP Meghan Johnston scored the lone goal.

The under-16 boys were up 3-0 at halftime over Phoenix, who decided not to play the second half after a dispute with the referee.

Tournament MVP Marco Bustos, Dylan Carreiro and Brendan Rattai were the goal scorers.

The under-14 girls beat Bonivital 2-0 on a goal by MVP Allie Moar and an own-goal.

All the teams are receiving some subsidies, but are on the hook for much of the cost of attending the nationals. The under-18 team is holding a bud-and-spud fundraiser on Sept. 18 at Silverado’s.

avi.saper@canstarnews.com