The Columneetza Cougars senior boys soccer team were crowned victorious in an all Williams Lake final, facing off against the Williams Lake Thunder in Columneetza’s home tournament Saturday.

The Cougars and the Thunder played an extremely competitive final on Columneetza’s home field, with the outcome tilting in the Cougars’ favour — a 2-1 win.

Cougars’ coach Tom Dell says the team now has its sights on the North Zone Championships, which will be played Nov. 1-2 in Williams Lake.

“We controlled the games but our finish wasn’t exactly there,” Dell says, noting the team hasn’t had the chance to play many games together so far during the short soccer season.

“It was a good finish for not having played for a month.”

Williams Lake’s coach George McGibbon noted he was happy with his squad’s performance in the tournament as well.

“The guys played really hard,” McGibbon says. “Columneetza’s a tough team.”

Columneetza controlled the play for most of the first half, jumping out to 2-0 lead midway through the half.

However, in the second, Williams Lake secondary found their legs, scoring a goal around the 15-minute mark of the half to give the Cougars a scare.

Top goalie for the tournament was Columneetza’s Ray Ng. Top forward honours went to WLSS’s Jordan Siegmueller, and top defender went to WLSS’s Cole Bernier.

Columneetza’s route to the final consisted of a 7-0 win over Quesnel Junior Secondary School, a 2-0 win over 100 Mile House’s Peter Skeene Ogden and a 1-0 win over Fort St. James.

WLSS beat Bella Coola 5-0, Fort St. James 3-0 and PSO 1-0 to earn their berth in the final.

Zone championships will be played at WLSS and Columneetza secondary on Sunday, Nov.1 and Monday, Nov. 2.