Ezra Cremers called the Peach Classic Soccer tournament great over the weekend.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Cremers, the executive director and head coach of Pinnacles FC.
Cremers coached the under-18 squad to gold after they defeated Surrey Guildford United 2-1, the same score as their first meeting in the tournament. Scoring for the Pinnacles were Britney Young and Kennedy Newton. The U15 boys also won gold with a 2-0 overtime shutout of the B.C. (Surrey) Tigers. Derek Brunton scored the winner on a penalty shot.
“It wasn’t a pretty affair as both teams were tired,” said Cremers. “It was a pretty cool result for those boys.”
The U15 and 16 girls came second, while the U18 boys played in the third/fourth place game because of a goal differential. They finishing tied for first in round robin play. The Kootenay South Storm won the U13/14 boys side, while Port Moody won the U15/16 side and the Surrey FC Ravens won the U18 boys division.
On the girls side, KYSA Eagles won the U13/14 division, the Coquitlam Metro-Ford SC Venom was the U14/15 division and Vancouver United won the U17/18 division.
“I’m very, very happy with the building blocks of our players and teams in regards to their development,” said Cremers. “Our younger teams fared OK. The way we develop players, we don’t usually win games at the younger age.”
Pinnacles FC received lots of positive feedback again about the tournament. Some visitors cracked jokes about the weather, but Cremers said they come because of their fields, the good competition and all the tourist options that people can do. Pinnacles FC had to turn away 15 teams due to accommodation. Cremers said maybe picking a different weekend during the summer could be better.