The Upper Island Storm U16 Girls side got it done down Island last Saturday as they edged Bays United 1-0 in overtime to win the VIPL Cup final.
Part of the high performance Vancouver Island Premier League, the Storm are made up of players from Nanaimo, Comox and Oceanside, with local standouts Bronwyn Kirk, Sophie Palmer and Olivia Friesen all contributing.
The Storm were 9-2-4 over the regular season for 1st in their four-team division, while Bays was second at 9-3-3.
According to Storm assistant Stuart Kirk, the two teams played to a fiercely contested scoreless first half tie, which carried through the second half.
In overtime, Kirk says the Bays just missed on a glorious scoring opportunity in the last half of extra time, and Palmer slotted the winner in the dying seconds after stealing the ball from a Bays sweeper.
It was, said Kirk, “an extremely exciting game that could have gone either way.”
With the win the Storm advance to the quarter finals of the Coastal Cup slated for Merle Logan Field in Nanaimo April 13, and have secured the Vancouver Island berth for the Provincials in Langley in early July.