Howe Sound Soccer League finishes playoffs with a bang

The Howe Sound Soccer League (HSSL) recently wrapped its men’s division playoffs, and the April 1 final match took place between two teams that were considered underdogs at the start.

B&B Excavating FC took on Ellis Legado FC in the final match. Michael Heinrich, treasurer of HSSL, called it an underdog story of sorts as the two teams in the final were actually near the bottom of the league during the regular season.

“However, they persevered during playoffs and were able to come up with the wins that they needed to,” he said.

B&B started the scoring in the first half of the final match with two goals from Baltaran Toor and Chris Johnstone.

But Ellis Legado responded in the second half with a goal from Damon Nelson at the 60-minute mark.

Ultimately B&B prevailed, with two more goals from Chris Johnstone and Gary O’Neil, which capped the match with a final score of 4 to 1.

“They came away with a much deserving win,” Heinrich said of B&B Excavating FC.

The playoffs for the league came on the heels of Whistler FC, in its inaugural season, earning first place in regular season play.

“Whistler FC found themselves in a must-win scenario and, with only 15 minutes left, scored the go-ahead goal that ultimately secured the win and the season championship,” reads the recap on the HSSL website.

“Finishing first in your first year speaks a lot to those players,” said Heinrich.

Heinrich reported that HSSL continues to show major growth in the number of players in recent years, which is due, in part, to the restructuring of the leagues, the addition of a women’s division and added spring divisions for men and women.

“What we've seen is a growth from less than 100 players two or three years ago to close to 600 players that played last year alone,” he said.

Registration for the women’s spring division and the men’s spring division is already open, as the season will kick off near the end of April.

As well, registration is open for the spring drop-in league, which will run until the end of August.

More information on the spring registration is available at HoweSoundSoccer.com.