EDC FC Burnaby won its first-ever Provincial Cup, in just its third season in the premier division.
EDC scored twice in extra time to wrestle away a 3-1 victory over Inter FC in the cup final at Willoughby Turf in Langley on Sunday.
Habib Mohammed, who scored two goals, including the game-winning penalty kick at the three-minute mark in the opening period of OT, was named the game MVP.
“I’m thankful to the guys for the effort they put in yesterday,” said EDC head coach Claudio Ramirez, “we relied on the counterattack and that just seemed to work.”
Mohammed, who was a pickup from the Division 1 FC Tigers, scored first in the 24th minute.
Inter eventually tied the match late in the second half off a PK from Joseph Marrello of Burnaby.
EDC iced the match late in the second OT on a counter by Eric Ray, who took the ball into the 18-yard-box and found a wide open Rizal Ganief for the insurance marker.
Winning the B.C. Soccer men’s A cup is a crowning achievement for the club, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary, said Ramirez.
“They were focused,” said Ramirez. “You could just see they knew they were going to win the game, but they expected it to be tough. But there was a confidence in the air.”
EDC keeper Hugo Vasquez came up big on a couple of early occasions to keep the match scoreless.
Ylya Malek was involved in a number of first-half chances, including a near header by Mohammed that went over the bar late in the first half.
Ganief had a great chance to score to start off the second half, eluding two Inter players before having his shot on goal stopped by former Burnaby Royals goalie Andrew Fink. Malek also had a shot on goal stopped in the 73rd minute.
Mohammed helped his team’s cause in the 26th minute of extra time, clearing a Marrello corner kick off the line to preserve a 2-1 lead.
With the win, EDC earned a spot at the club nationals this fall.
After a poor start to the season, EDC got a boost, picking up Michael North, Parker Ellis and Christian Zimmerman from Simon Fraser University.
“They gave us a breath of fresh air which carried us for the remainder of the season and led us to this,” said Ramirez.
