Chemainus Secondary School’s senior boys soccer team finished its season on a high note.
Chemainus defeated Nanaimo Christian Secondary 4-1 to finish fifth in the Island A high school boys tournament hosted by St. Andrew’s in Victoria.
“It was nice to end the season with a W,” conceded Chemainus Secondary athletic director and team coach Kyle Peruniak.
Alex Loewe led the charge with three goals.
“The guys played awesome,” said Peruniak.
The game was played in horrendous weather conditions compared to the brilliant sunny day for the opening of the tournament.
“It didn’t seem to stop them,” Peruniak noted. “They all had fun.
“We saw both extremes. First, it was a nice sunny day and then it was just a torrential downpour.”
Chemainus lost 2-0 to Brookes of Shawnigan Lake and 3-1 to Duncan Christian on opening day.
Against Brookes, “we played a really good game,” Peruniak pointed out. “We have a fairly young team. I would say the majority of our team is (Grade) 10s to 8s.”
Brookes scored late in the first half and early in the second.
“It was too bad,” said Peruniak. “I wish we had a couple of those plays back. It was just mental breakdowns.”
Jace Hamm, a Grade 8 student, scored the Chemainus goal against DCS.
Prior to the tournament, Chemainus also lost to DCS by a 4-1 count.
Peruniak said the results bode well for the future, with so many young players on the team going against older competition.
“That’s the nice thing about being athletic director, you get to see the natural abilities of those kids coming through,” Peruniak pointed out.