The Seaton Sonics will face the Dawson Creek Penguins in their B.C. Senior AA Boys Soccer Championships opener Monday morning at Burnaby Lake Complex.
Seaton takes on the North Delta Huskies in pool play Tuesday morning.
The Sonics, who finished fourth in the 2016 B.C. playdowns, are the Okanagan Valley winners for the second straight year after clipping the Valleyview Vikings of Kamloops 3-2 in penalty kicks Monday at Hillside Stadium in Kamloops.
Valleyview led 2-0 at the half, getting their first tally in the 20th minute after keeper Logan Quibell recorded a diving stop and defender Jack Cotter made a clearing attempt which was picked off by a Valleyview player.
Seaton pressed back with chances by Liam Glennon and Victor Gonzalez thwarted by the Valleyview keeper. The Vikes converted on a through ball that left an odd-man rush and a shot that Quibell didn’t have a chance on.
Seaton regrouped at half and dominated play with Quibell moving to defence where he was steadfast all half and Jose Rodrigo going to the net, scoring goals less than five minutes apart.
Glennon took a ball deep in the right corner and beat two defenders to the box and delivered a great cross to Victor Gonzalez who snuck the ball past a diving Viking keeper at 45 minutes.
Three minutes later, midfielder Kazuki Comley put a ball in the air from the middle of the field that Gonzalez nodded in to tie things up.
The game went to overtime where Valleyview hit two posts and Seaton narrowly missed scoring on a blazing volley that hit Gonzalez on its way to the net by Javier Monsreal from just inside the top of the 18.
In PKs, Hinojosa stopped the first shooter which gave huge life to the Sonics. PKs were successfully converted by both sides for three trips (Carlos Noranjo, Chris McIntosh, Monsreal scoring for the Sonics) until Hinojosa stopped Valleyview again to give the Sonics the winning shot, which Gonzalez buried.
“We started very slowly and Valleyview definitely had stronger legs in the first half,” said Seaton coach Michel Amoua. “We changed our formation in the second half and that benefited us with our ball movement and possession improving. Liam (Glennon) was a driving force for us, putting constant pressure on their fullbacks all match long, particularly in the second half. Victor (Gonzalez) broke out for us big time after not scoring for a few matches. He is a key offensive player for us and it was nice to see him get that monkey off of his back in such a big match.”
Prior to Seaton’s consecutive wins, the Okanagan title had not been won by a North Okanagan squad since the Vernon Panthers (then the only high school in Vernon) won it in 1978.