The St. Michaels University School Blue Jaguars are B.C. AA soccer champs as the team rallied around a foursome of elite players that rarely come along together.
The Jags beat Kamloops’ Sa-Hali Sabres 1-0 in the AA final in Burnaby on Nov. 19. Tournament MVP Callum Montgomery headed in the winning goal for SMUS on a corner kick by Kieran Large. The two are half of the foursome with Brian Im and Matty McColl, The latter of which shared the provincial tournament’s Golden Boot award.
“It’s not just the four players it’s way the rest of the team understood their roles and played so well and so disciplined to allow these guys the freedom to create offensively,” said coach Wes Barrett, who has been coaching the core of the group for four years.
It’s a trifecta of awards for St. Michaels, having recently defeated Oak Bay 2-0 for the city championship and Brooks 1-0 for the Island championship.
Montgomery leads the foursome as they will likely play at the university level in the NCAA or CIS, said Barrett, a former national CIS soccer champion with the UVic Vikes.
“Montgomery is a starter in any CIS school, depending on where he goes in the States too. His work rate, fitness and defensive responsibility make him one of the top centre midfielders in the province,” Barrett said.
Reynolds finished 11th at the AAA boys provincials.
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