The Royal City boys Westminster United assured themselves a spot in the provincial cup with a 5-0 victory over Bays United last week in under-18 Coastal B Cup play.
The win also catapulted Royal City into the Coastal Cup final, which goes next week in Aldergrove.
The team landed in Victoria on Friday and were well-rested for the Saturday game, as evident by the 2-0 lead after just 10 minutes of play.
Tallies by Eduardo Machuca and Markus Zacharuk set the table, while Dieved Penalver, off a nifty setup from Josef Finlay, put Westminster in the driver’s seat before the game was 30 minutes old. Before halftime, Ethan Haid thrilled his family in attendance with a clutch goal.
In the second half, Zacharuk rounded out the offence as Royal City were convincing winners.
“You always look at an Island trip as a bit of a mystery, you don’t know what the conditions will be like, the refereeing or the opposition,” said coach Ed Zacharuk.
“We got off to a great start and kind of got the job done quickly.”
The win earned the team a berth at the provincials in July, and a match against archrival Chilliwack in the Coastal final, which United has come up short in two past attempts.
It came on the heels of a 5-3 decision over Central City in the Coastal quarterfinals. Penalver counted four goals and drew an assist, while Markus Zacharuk picked up a goal and four helpers.
