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A 3-0 win over Modern Furniture Pikeys has earned Mission Cleaners their fifth Kelowna Men’s Soccer League playoff championship in the past eight years.
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And the KMSL champs will have the opportunity to make it two consecutive titles in September when they take on Vernon Turn Key FC in the Royal Cup final on Sunday beginning a 1 p.m. at Mission Sportsfields (#14).
Mission Cleaners scored what would stand up as the winning goal 30 minutes into Sunday's contest at Mission Sportsfields when Sean Murphy found the net from eight yards out off a beautiful pass across the face of the goal by Alex Thompson.
While Pikeys took over the momentum for a short period after the Mission goal, they couldn’t create any clear-cut chances to draw even.
Pikeys continued with vigor in the second half and had a couple of point-blank chances, however Mission goalkeeper Spencer Brown was up to the challenge with two huge saves.
With Pikeys’ frustration starting to show after not scoring or creating many other chances, Mission Cleaners began to take over the game from their shorthanded opponents.
The persistence paid off after a good cross was swung into the box and Scott Mazurkewich was able to break free of his defender and place a header between the Pikeys keeper’s arms to make it 2-0 with 25 minutes remaining.
From there, Pikeys’ tired legs started to show and Mission Cleaners began to pour on the pressure. One sequence saw the eventual champs hit two posts and one crossbar before Pikeys were able to frantically kick the ball out of danger.
With about 15 minutes remaining, the game was sealed after a nice layoff was played by Jordan Hesketh to Murphy who finished it with his second goal of the game.
Late offensive leads to Peacock Sheridan title in KWSL
Pushing former university forwards Lana Finley and Alanna Bekkering into attacking roles in the second half led to a Peacock Sheridan Group 4-0 victory over Royal Star and a Kelowna Women’s Soccer League championship on Sunday.
Bekkering, a Thompson Rivers University WolfPack grad, scored twice and assisted on a goal, while Finley, a UBC Okanagan Heat alumnus, added a marker as PSG won its first KWSL Division 1 title since 2011.
After a scoreless first half, Peacock Sheridan went on the offence, with midfielder Cheyenne Dedla — chosen player-of-the-game — opening the scoring by directing an end-line pass from Bekkering from 12 yards out.
Bekkering made it 2-0 with a hard shot from just inside the 18-yard box while Finley scored with a rocket from 20 yards with 10 minutes remaining. Bekkering closed out the scoring with a solo effort in the final minute of the match.
Second-place finishers in the regular season, one point behind Royal Star, PSG received an outstanding performance defensively from captain Beccs Wipfli, while Jenn Knourek was the shutout goalkeeper.
Peacock Sheridan reached the final by defeating Diablos on penalty kicks in semifinal play while Royal Star advanced with a forfeit win over Clydsdale.
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