When 2014 recipient Patrick Nelson of Saanich Fusion looks down the list of past J.D. Hunter Award winners as Vancouver Island Soccer League MVP, he can see the names of 1986 World Cup players George Pakos and Jamie Lowery, former pros Dallas Moen, Drew Ferguson, Tyler Hughes and stalwarts such as Rob Veenhof, Rob Williams and Nick Gilbert.
What a lot of those past MVPs also have are Province Cup team titles. But there hasn’t been a senior men’s B.C. soccer championship dynasty from the Island since Gorge FC captured the Province Cup four times between 2001 and 2010 and Vic West six times between 1976 and 1984.
Nelson and the Fusion would like to change that. Their quest begins today at 3 p.m. at Tyndall Park when they meet the Coquitlam Metro Ford Wolves in the Province Cup Sweet Sixteen.
The Fusion go into the game having won the VISL regular-season crown, its first Jackson Cup Island title and having swept the VISL individual awards. MVP Nelson was also the league top scorer with 18 goals while Fusion teammates Josh Menzies and Ryan Hulstein were named goalkeepers of the year and Leo Falzon top rookie.
“I’m confident we can make a run,” said Fusion coach Steph Steiner.
Saanich Fusion was formed when Gordon Head and Cordova Bay amalgamated. It seems to be a happy marriage as Steiner has guided Fusion into the Province Cup for the seventh consecutive year.
The director of coaching for the Coquitlam Metro Ford organization is Olympian, World Cup player and all-time Canada co-leading scorer Dale Mitchell, so Steiner knows the opposition today will be well prepared.
In another Province Cup opener today, VISL third-seed Bays United plays Kamloops at 12:20 p.m. at Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence. Perhaps the most compelling storyline belongs to VISL fourth-seed Vic West. The Province Cup once overflowed with Vic West green in a run from 1976 to 1984 that netted six B.C. titles and four Canadian championships. When the halcyon years ended, the fall was steep. Vic West languished in the lower echelons of Division 4 just seven years ago when an effort was made to awaken the ghosts. After a painstaking rebuild, Vic West is back in the Province Cup.
But the Wests’ visions of a return to glory are tempered by an unforgiving draw that has Vic West today facing two-time Province Cup defending champion Surrey United Firefighters on the Mainland. The Firefighters roster includes former Vancouver Whitecaps pros and Canadian national team players Jeff Clarke and Steve Kindel and former Whitecap Stefan Leslie.
The opening round of the Cup didn’t start out well for the Island as VISL second-seed Cowichan FC lost 3-0 Saturday to the West Coast Selects.
This weekend’s winners advance to the Province Cup quarter-finals April 26-27. The semifinals are May 3-4, and the final May 10 in Burnaby.
