2014 BC Provincial Cup set to get underway this weekend

The draws for the 2014 BC Provincial Cup took place in Burnaby on Monday night and with the action getting set to kick off this weekend in the Men’s B Cup, fans of the local soccer scene in British Columbia have some cracking match ups to look forward to in the opening rounds.

This is one of our favourite times of the year in the soccer calendar and once again, we’ll be bringing you extensive coverage of the Cups from the first round to the finals weekend on May 10th and 11th.

The draw took place at Fortius Sport and Fitness in Burnaby and BC Soccer executive director Paul Mullen was happy with how the night unfolded.

“I think it was a great draw” Mullen told AFTN. “We had some great personalities here, all the Leagues were here, a number of clubs. Exciting competition starts next week for a number of teams and then we’re leading towards the finals on May 10th/11th.”

All eyes this weekend will be on the B Cup, which kicks off with eight preliminary round matches after the competition was increased from 16 to 24 teams for this year.

With no seeding in place, last year’s winners, Richmond All Blacks, kick off their defence of the trophy with a home tie against Mundiavocat FC. The All Blacks won both the League and Cup titles in the Richmond Adult Soccer Association (RASA) this season and will be favourites to advance against their Burnaby mens Soccer Association (BMSA) league rivals. A trip to the island to take on Vancouver Island Soccer League (VISL) side Fernwood Town awaits the winner.

The eight first round ties sees four intra league ties, including two all Vancouver Metro Soccer League ties, an all Richmond clash between AC Richmond and Richmond Athletics, and an intriguing all Fraser Valley (FVSL) clash between Westcoast FC Celtic and Westcoast FC Razorbacks.

We picked VMSL side Rino’s Fury to follow from the first round last year and hope to do the same this year as they face off at home to Bombastic SC.

All of the other Cups kick off the following weekend with their round of 16 matches.

In the Masters, league winning Croatia SC (VMSL), Gorge FC Backfit (VISL), North Delta SC Rangers (FVSL) and Roma FC (North Shore Soccer League) are the seeded teams, with last year’s winners Columbus FC of the VMSL kicking off their defence of the Deryl Hughes Cup away to FVSL side Coastal FC Peace Arch.

The U21 Cup sees defending champions, and 2013/14 VMSL U21 champs, Guildford United as one of the four seeds. They kick off their defence of the Doug Day Cup at home to FVSL U21 Cup winners Langley United. Fellow VMSL side, and that league’s U21 Cup winners, EDC Burnaby are amongst the other three seeds, alongside 2012 Provincial Cup winners Port Moody Lordco Gunners of the FVSL and 2011 Provincial Cup winners Victoria Highlanders Prospects of the VISL.

The last draw to be made on the evening was for the Men’s Premier A Cup and it has thrown up a couple of cracking first round matches.

It’s hard to pick the tie of the first round as the draw threw up repeats of both the 2014 VMSL Imperial Cup final and the 2014 FVSL Pakenham Cup final.

Imperial Cup winners Inter FC are drawn at home to Columbus FC, following their 1-0 extra time victory over them to lift the trophy at the weekend, with Pakenham Cup and FVSL League winning Port Moody Lordco Gunners hosting Langley United. These two sides finished first and second in the FVSL. Should be a cracker.

Defending champions, and back to back winners, Surrey United Firefighters kick off their defence with a home tie against VISL side Vic West FC.

Metro Ford Wolves have a trip to the island awaiting them to take on seeded VISL Cup winners Saanich Fusion, whilst arguably the tie of the round will see VSML Premier winners West Van FC take on runners up CCB-RT United. West Van won the league title by a single point, so this is sure to be a great game to get out to.

Pacific Coast League representatives Kamloops Heat have the biggest trip of the draw ahead of them as they travel to the island to take on Bays United. Khalsa SC were meant to be the PCSL team this year, but registration issues for some of their players meant they were unable to put a team in. Vancouver Thunderbirds, who reached the semi finals last season, would have been the natural next choice but Kamloops were selected to represent instead.

You can see all of the draws and dates and times of matches on both the men’s and the women’s side over on the BC Soccer website.

As we try and encourage every year, if you can get out to any of the matches then you’ll see some great local football, but if you can’t we’ll bring you full coverage with reports, photos and videos one again here on AFTN, and watch out for our chat with BC Soccer executive director Paul Mullen on this week’s podcast.