After coming so close on three previous occasions in Jackson Cup championship game losses with Lakehill FC, midfielder Dorian Colopisis was finally buried under hardware Saturday evening at Starlight Stadium.
Now with Vic West, Colopisis not only finally got to lift the Jackson Cup as the Wests defeated Comox Valley United 2-0 in the 2024 final, but was also named championship game MVP to add his name to a list of past winners that includes World Cup player George Pakos and other Canada-capped players such as Brian Robinson and Ike McKay.
“It’s kind of a relief,” Colopisis said of his winding path to the title.
The Jackson Cup, the Vancouver Island Soccer League version of the FA Cup, has been contested since 1915. Vic West, which ended a 34-year drought last year when it won the Cup for the first time since 1989, added a second consecutive title. But it wasn’t easy against a plucky Comox Valley United team making its first championship game appearance.
“It took everyone to get here and we played hard and put our hearts into it,” said Comox Valley coach Mark Wilson.
The game hung in the balance until Paddy Nelson scored at 66 minutes. It was only fitting the winning goal should come from the boot of the most prolific VISL scorer of his era, who added a fifth Jackson Cup title to the four he has won with Cowichan FC and Saanich Fusion. Colopisis scored the insurance goal in the 84th minute.
“Credit to Comox Valley,” said Nelson, 36.
“They held us to zeroes until fairly late. It was a nervy game. I thought we might have been looking at penalties. It was a bit of a weight lifted off the shoulders when the ball just sort of fell to my feet and I was able to bury it. I was in the right place at the right time.”
With former UVic Vikes star Ian Whibley of Vic West winning the VISL Golden Boot with 31 regular-season goals, followed by teammate and Golden Boot runner-up Salem Almardy with 24, the Wests’ offensive flash allows space to open up for others.
“With the power we have up front, it allows me to focus on my role,” said Colopisis.
Vic West remained undefeated at 16-0-2 in league and 4-0 in the Jackson Cup.
The Wests also won the Garrison Cup for the VISL Div. 1 regular-season championship for the first time since 1989 and the Cup Winners Cup by defeating 2023 Garrison Cup champion Lakehill. That treble of trophies, along with Colopisis’ for MVP, were lined up Saturday night in front of a group team picture in front of the west-end goal in a joyously raucous tableau.
Vic West, the oldest soccer club in Canada at 127 years old, won its 24th Jackson Cup. Now comes the quest for Vic West’s first Province Cup B.C. championship since 1984 as it joins Jackson Cup runner-up Comox Valley, VISL regular-season runner-up Gorge FC and the other VISL qualifiers Lakehill and Bays United in the Province Cup tournament, which will conclude with the championship game next month at Starlight Stadium.
“The Province Cup is tough. So much has to go right to win it,” said Nelson.
“You have to play tight, get good goalkeeping and get lucky four games in a row.”
