In the short slog that is the high school soccer season, a league final is where the road is set for a potential provincial run.
The Burnaby Central Wildcats are hoping the map proves true.
The Wildcats faced its toughest test of the season Wednesday but used a strong second half to emerge 3-1 victors over the Burnaby Mountain Lions to claim the Burnaby-New West league final at Burnaby Lake West complex.
Tali Romero’s tally in the second half broke a 1-1 tie, while Shefit Sopjani netted his second of the day to wrap up the offence.
Central, who rolled through the regular season a perfect 8-0 with just two goals against, now holds the league’s No. 1 seed entering next week’s showdown with their North Shore rivals.
The Lions also advance to face the No. 2 North Shore ranked rival. The playoffs continue on Tuesday in North Vancouver.
Sopjani gave the Wildcats the lead, but Mountain drew even on Gianmaria Benetton’s marker before the half. That set the stage for Romero’s winner.
Also turning in a strong performance was Wildcats’ co-captain Brolin Masuhara.
In their previous meeting, Central prevailed 3-0.
The Lions, who sat second after the regular season with a 5-2-1 record, put in a strong team effort, coach Glenn Boyle said.
“It would be unfair to single out individual players in what was a great team effort against a tough opponent. It’s also important to add that the whole squad made important contributions on route to the final, without which we would not have had a chance to win the banner this year,” Boyle said.
The league playoffs began last week when third-seed New West bested No. 6 Moscrop 3-1, while fifth-place Alpha upset No. 4 Burnaby North 2-1 in overtime.
Central advanced to the final by trumping Alpha 5-1, while Mountain blanked New West 2-0.
