PORT HARDY-The battle-tested St. Andrews Academy Sabres proved too much for the North Island's secondary school soccer clubs Wednesday, posting a pair of one-sided victories to claim the Island A Senior Boys Soccer championship and earn the Island's lone berth into the Provincial A Championships Nov. 3-5 in Kelowna.
The Victoria squad used four second-half goals to pull away to a 5-0 win over the host Whalers in the opening game. The Sabres clinched the title with a fast start that led to a 6-0 win over North Island Secondary School of Port McNeill in the tourney finale.
In between PHSS and NISS were forced into a penalty-kick tiebreaker after playing to a 2-2 draw in regulation, and the Whalers prevailed to earn second place with a 4-3 edge in penalty kicks.
Chemainus Secondary School was initially scheduled to play in the tournament, but withdrew the day before play began.
Full tournament coverage will appear in the Nov. 3 print edition of the Gazette.