The Northside Christian North Stars of Vanderhoof navigated their way to an astronomical finish at the single-A boys soccer provincial championship in Aldergrove.
The North Stars just missed out on a medal, finishing fourth last Saturday in the 16-team tournament.
It was one of the highest-ever provincial placings ever for a north central B.C. team.
In the battle for bronze last Friday, Ecole Jules Verne of Vancouver defeated Northside 3-0.
Ranked sixth going in, Northside finished first in its pool after wins over host Credo Christian (2-1), Boundary Central of Midway (7-0) and Kelowna Christian (2-1 on penalty kicks).
That set up a semifinal encounter with West Point Gray Academy (the eventual gold medalists), and the North Stars allowed two second-half goals and lost 2-0.
Coached by Adrian Pelzer, the North Stars were recognized for the rare high placing despite having fewer than 10 students per grade.
North Stars goalie Sam Klassen was selected for the Golden Glove Award as the top goalkeeper in the tournament, the same award won last year by Northside’s Salem Birkinstock, who trained Klassen this year.
Graham Yoder, the North Central zone MVP, was chosen for the Super 16 all-star team, as was Gabe Ouelette of the Fort St. James Falcons.
Fort. St. James lost 3-2 to Boundary in the 15th/16th-place game and finished the tournament 0-5. The Falcons were picked for the Fair Play Award.
At the zone tournament Oct. 18-20 in Prince George, the North Stars did not allow a goal while capturing the North Central zone title at Rotary Field with a win over Fort St. James in the final.
The North Stars roster includes goalie Klassen; defenders Ezra Goulty, Ryan Giesbrecht, Tristan Martens, David Wiens and Regan Schlamp; midfielders/forwards Yoder, Jason Dyck, Dietrich Pelzer, Sam Thiessen, Luther Pelzer, and Derek Giesbrecht and junior callups Ben Teichroeb and Dominick Martens. Connor Schlamp (injured) and Dally Corbiere (unable to attend provincials) also played for the team this season.
