Williams Lake had a strong showing last weekend taking second place at the annual Quesnel Co-Ed Soccer Tournament.
Winners of the tournament the four previous years, Williams Lake came up just short this time around, falling 6-5 in the final to UNBC of Prince George.
“This was easily the most competitive the tournament had ever been as all four semifinalists had a legitimate shot to win the six-team tournament,” said lakecity striker Sean Glanville.
Williams Lake opened round robin play Saturday with a 3-3 draw against Youngblood of Quesnel. In game two the lakecity earned a 7-4 win over Prince George’s Terminators, before dropping a 6-4 decision to UNBC — a skilled team composed primarily of current and former varsity players — in its final round robin game.
With one win, one tie and one loss Williams Lake placed fourth out of six teams in the round robin to setup a tilt with undefeated top seed Tiki Taka of Prince George in Sunday’s semifinal.
There, Williams Lake battled back from a 4-3 deficit late in the game as Nick Iachetta fooled the Tika Taka keeper to force overtime. In overtime, Glanville scored the winner to give Williams Lake a 5-4 win.
In the other semifinal match UNBC defeated Page’s Posse in a shutout to advance to the final.
“We were thoroughly outplayed in the opening half,” Glanville said, whose team trailed 4-1 at the break. “We showed a lot of heart to come back to within one goal at 5-4, but eventually fell 6-5.”
The squad earned $400 for their second-place finish.
Team members included Luke Moger, Mikel Brogan, Rajan Mangat, Derek Funk, Greg Williams, Ashley Callander, Vanessa Hansen, Katie McMahen, Chelann Davis, Glanville and Iachetta.