Chase Haagensen knows Centennial Stadium well.
But the track more than the pitch.
The B.C. high school 100- and 400-metre gold medallist and 200-metre silver medallist stepped to the spot Thursday night and nailed the fifth-and-deciding penalty kick to give Reynolds its second consecutive Colonist Cup Greater Victoria high school soccer title. The Roadrunners and Royal Bay Ravens tied 1-1 after regulation and overtime with Reynolds prevailing 5-4 on penalty kicks.
“It was nerve-racking,” said the Grade 12 all-rounder Haagensen, who has international aspirations after his varsity running career at UBC.
“It was the first penalty kick I have made.”
The Colonist Cup playdowns have seen a lot of history pass through its annals and have featured the likes of World Cup players Ian Bridge of Vic High and George Pakos of Esquimalt and other highly-capped Canadian internationals such as Brian Robinson from Vic High and Bob Bolitho of Mount View. But what the competition has never before seen is Royal Bay in the final. Which is understandable since the Colwood school opened in 2015. But it will have to wait for its first Colonist Cup championship.
The Ravens beat Oak Bay on penalty kicks in the semifinals to advance to their first final while Reynolds defeated SMUS 3-1.
“Hats off to Royal Bay,” said Reynolds coach J.J. Atterbury.
“But we gutted it out tonight and showed a lot of character.”
It continued a rebirth of the Roadrunners, a powerhouse of the late 1970s and 1980s. In 2016, they won their first Colonist Cup since 1983 and followed up with their first B.C. championship in 50 years, and placed third in B.C. in 2017.
Reynolds is also the Island champion and will be off to the B.C. Triple A tournament Nov. 21-23 in Burnaby.
“We are good enough to win provincials this year,” said Haagensen.
Greater Victoria regular-season champion Royal Bay lost to Oak Bay in the Island tournament for the second berth to provincials, so the Ravens’ season is done.
The Double-A provincials are Nov. 18-20 with Island-champion Carihi of Campbell River, runner-up SMUS, third-place Brentwood College and fourth-place Brooks all Burnaby-bound.
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