North Coquitlam United Blue Devils put in a golden performance to blank Surrey United 2-0 in the U16 Silver boys’ conference cup semi-final on the weekend.

Speed was the key for the NCUSC side, who used their possession style of play to keep the Impact off balance and chasing. Strong runs by midfielders Aaron Wong, Lucas Szaraz supported by Alborz Hashemi and Scott Stewart Lee kept the bulk of the play in the Impact third.

Meanwhile, crisp ball movement and precise passing allowed a number of North Coquitlam scoring chances. Rob Gido and Andrew Ditchen just failed to break the deadlock.

In their own end, the Blue Devils got outstanding defensive performances from right back David Jennings, who was constantly pushing the play forward and turned into a point man on the rush, and Nick Verga and Danial Radoafzoun.

The two sides went into halftime in a scoreless draw but, in the second half, Nico de Torres hammered a rising shot from well out on a free kick to break the goose egg.

Then, with 10 minutes left in the match, forward Dylan Szteina scored the insurance marker, breaking through the middle circle to gather in a through ball, then blasting a shot past the keeper with an Impact defender hanging on.

Other NCUSC results:

WHITECAPS

North Coquitlam U15 Silver 1 Whitecaps boys are also headed for a conference cup final after defeating the host Golden Ears United in a semi-final match on the weekend.

Whitecaps carried the play from the opening kickoff but were unable to convert their opportunities while, against the run of the play, Golden Ears United scored twice in the first half.

In the second half, the ’Caps continue to press and were finally rewarded when Jun Do deflected a cross into the net.

This started the Whitecaps’ comeback and, with less than five minutes left in the match, Matthew Torres fired a left-footer past the Golden Ears keeper to tie the game and send it into overtime.

The game finally ended in the second overtime period when Sid Moshfeghi scored on a brilliant turn-around one-time shot.

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