The trophy stays in Squamish, at least for one more year.
Sikh Temple captured its second straight Howe Sound Men鈥檚 Soccer League playoff trophy on Saturday (April 11) with a 2-1 over Whistler FC.
The win came after Whistler was ranked the top team in the HSMSL during the regular season and only lost one game the entire season.
Temple goalie Casper Singh said his team was motivated to ensure the trophy remained in Squamish.
鈥淲e wanted to keep the title in 麻豆社国产obviously,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut cheers to Whistler they played really well and were strong contenders all year. They were first place and we lost one game to them but we came back strong today and the guys had a really good effort.鈥�
Istvan Richter opened the scoring at the 23 minute mark on a free kick and moments later it was Nav Kang who quickly made it a 2-0 game. Temple held a 2-0 lead after the first half.
Kang made a glorious save in the first half with his team up 2-0, diving across to prevent a sure goal from a Whistler attacker. He said it was being in the right place at the right time.
鈥淚t was a good ball by Whistler and I just read the play,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was all reflexes, I thought it was going in but luckily I saved it.鈥�
He couldn鈥檛 stop Peter Devlin at the 80-minute mark, after the Whistler striker rang one off the inside of the crossbar to pull Whistler within one. Whistler applied pressure in the final 10 minutes but Temple hung on for the win. Kang said it鈥檚 huge for this group to repeat as champions.
鈥淲e worked so hard at practice every week and we were missing lots of guys all year so it鈥檚 really nice for us to win again,鈥� he said.
Earlier on Saturday, the Ellis Moving Eagles beat Galileo FC 3-1 in the third place game. Following the championship game, the league held a year-end part at the Jumping Seagle with most valuable player awards given by each team.
Winning team MVPs included: Brandon George (Galileo), Carl Krantz (麻豆社国产Gunners), Kim Stanley (Ellis Eagles), Nav Kang (Temple) and Paul Baxter (Whistler).
Whistler鈥檚 Peter Devlin was awarded the league鈥檚 golden boot for scoring the most goals in regular season action.
Soccer action heats up again starting on Saturday (April 18) with the annual 麻豆社国产Soccerfest event and many players from the HSMSL will be hitting the pitch. For more information on the HSMSL, visit www.howesoundmens.snappages.com.聽
