The Port Moody 01 AC Selects won their fourth provincial title in five years by downing the Upper Island Riptide 5-1 in the Provincial A Cup under-18 boys final at South Surrey Athletic Park on Sunday July 7th. Carsen Maurice, Aaron Colbourne, Patrick Ruszczyk, Farzad Rajabali, and Ethan Ast scored for the AC Selects in the final.
In provincial round robin play, Port Moody defeated Kelowna United 4-2, Upper Island 2-0 and the Surrey Selects 2-0.
Coached by Johnny Sulentic and John Colbourne, the 01 AC team has had a remarkable season, going undefeated in all official competition. Along the way they won the BC Coastal Soccer Metro League, the BC Coastal Cup, and the BC Provincial A Cup. Here are their 2019 team stats:
- Metro league Champions! 18 games, 16 wins, 0 losses, 2 ties - 78 goals for, 14 against
- Coastal Cup Champions! 3 games, 3 wins, 0 losses, 0 ties - 7 goals for, 2 against
- BC Provincial Cup Champions! 4 wins, 0 losses, 0 ties - 13 goals for, 3 against
- 2019 Total: 25 games, 23 wins, 0 losses, 2 ties - 98 goals for, 19 against
This year’s achievement is the best ever for the team but they have been very successful over the years. Here are some of their highlight accomplishments:
- 2013: U12 District 5 Champions
- 2015: U14 Metro Select League, Coastal Cup, Provincial Cup Champions
- 2016: U15 Metro Select League, Provincial Cup Champions
- 2017: U16 Metro Select League, Provincial Cup Champions
- 2018: U17 Metro Select League Champions
- 2019: U18 BC Coastal Soccer Metro League, Coastal Cup, and Provincial Cup Champions
As impressive as all these accomplishments are, we expect these boys to go on to even bigger and better things, both in soccer and in other areas of their lives. They have learned the value of hard work and dedication, how to stay composed under pressure, and how to set goals and work as a team to achieve those goals. So far, 4 of the 01 AC players have already committed to play university soccer next year. Aaron Colbourne and Patrick Ruszczyk will play for Simon Fraser University’s men’s soccer team this fall while Kai Vockeroth will join SFU in 2020. Goalkeeper Josef Knittel will play for the University of Victoria starting in the fall. Several other players are considering playing college or university soccer or plan to play men’s soccer.
Whichever path these boys take, the future looks bright for each of them. We wish them well and dream of a time when they all come back to play men’s soccer together again in Port Moody.
Back Row: Johnny Sulentic (coach), Kai Vockeroth, Andrew Roberts, Thomas Hughes, Lucas Ciulla, Richard Culleton, Patrick Ruszczyk, Teo Tomas, Carson Guillemet, Josef Knittel, Adam Bergen, Farzad Rajabali, John Colbourne (assistant coach)
Front Row: Aaron Colbourne, Steven Ono, Matthew Naidu, Carsen Maurice, Ethan Ast, Alonso Alva, Matthew Ono (trainer)
Write up and photos submitted by John Colbourne