Legends surprise to reach provincials

Lance and Nancy Carey are Mr. and Mrs. Field Hockey in Richmond.

The couple have devoted countless hours to the sport, and Nancy also coaches at Charles London secondary. Last weekend her efforts were rewarded as the Legends unexpectedly reached the provincial high school championships.

"Everything was a surprise," said Carey, whose team finished 11th in their first-ever tournament appearance and, save for a couple of bounces, could have finished even higher.

Carey arrived at London three seasons ago mainly to aid three players from the Richmond club system: Lauren MacLean, Christine Wang and Courtney MacKenzie.

"They were the core of the team and I wanted to see them get the opportunity to play, hoping that maybe some time they could make it to the B.C.'s," Carey said.

Although all fine players, it was considered unlikely they could lead the Legends to the provincials with seven new additions (none of who had previously played hockey) to this season's squad. But their inspired play and leadership surpassed expectations.

Colts will be underdogs vs. Crusaders Saturday

David meets Goliath Saturday at B.C. Place Stadium. But in a twist, the Richmond Colts will play the role of underdogs.

The two-time defending provincial "AAA" high school football champions have the unenviable challenge of trying to defeat arguably B.C.'s most talented team: Holy Cross Crusaders.

While the Crusaders are led by running back Gary Pontes, generally regarded as the top player in the province, they are anything but a one-dimensional team. Holy Cross blanked Richmond 21-0 earlier in the season.

Colts looked very good last weekend though, upending North Delta Huskies 35-7 in a hard-fought battle to earn the chance to play the Crusaders.

Richmond ran the ball well led by Mike Brosseau's 87 yards and Ehsan Sharenjad's 63. Janne Backstrom chipped in with 33 and Daniel Hui 11. Quarterback James Bolegoh did a good job of mixing the pass and run and completed 10 of 15 pass attempts for 145 yards. His favorite target was Atnas Maeko who hauled in seven receptions for 80 yards, an average of 11.4 yards per catch.

Richmond opened the scoring with just over six minutes left in the first quarter when Boleogh hit Brosseau with a short pass. Brosseau went the rest of the way for a major.

North Delta quickly tied it as one of the Huskies' wide receivers got behind the Colt defenders and scored on a 47-yard pass, but Richmond regained the lead midway through the second quarter following a pair of big passes from Bolegoh to Maeko. Brosseau slammed the ball over from the two-yard line for the TD.

Richmond promptly opened the third quarter by adding to their lead. Boleogh executed a perfect fake reverse to pick up the first down on fourth and eight and then found Sharenjad from seven yards out to cap a 63-yard drive.

After a fake punt on fourth and nine in the final quarter, Maeko added to Richmond's lead when he hauled in a slant pass from Bolegoh in the end zone. Brosseau added his third TD on another two-yards plunge late in the game, followed by a two-point convert to Maeko with six minutes to play.

While the Colts dominated offensively, Richmond coach Jeff Lochbaum was most happy with his team's defensive effort.

"We played a great game holding the Huskies' strong running game in check," he said, praising the efforts of Rob Lobelsohn, Eric Backstrom, Jordan Jefferson, Janne Backstrom, Brosseau, Josh Tukutau and Hui, Sean Cowie, Brad Hodges, Maeko and Sharenjad.

"Ehsan was his nasty self from the safety position laying out a number of monstrous hits," Lochbaum said. "He might be the toughest 5-foo-t7, 145-pounder to ever play high school football in B.C."

SOCCER

Marlins, Trojans both reach B.C.'s

McNair Marlins failed to repeat last season's fifth-place finish at the provincial senior high school boys' soccer championships, but that didn't reduce how proud coach Paul Eberhardt was of his club.

The Marlins held a strong Cowichan team to a scoreless tie in their B.C. opener thanks largely to goalkeeper Anwar Nahal. He made several outstanding saves including one on a breakaway. Cowichan won the game in a shootout.

Nahal was equally brilliant against the number-one ranked North Delta Huskies in the second match Thursday. He held the Huskies scoreless for a half but the Huskies eventually pulled away for a 3-0 win.

Surprising Hugh Boyd Trojans, who also made the tournament, lost its opening match to West Vancouver Highlanders.