A father-son combination led the for Queensway Auto World to capture the Division 2 soccer championship with a 4-3 win over Eden Spas on championship Sunday for the North Cariboo Senior Soccer League.
Mariusz and Max Berezowski had the first and last goals for Queensway, which was too much for the underdog Eden team to overcome.
Mariusz, a former Division 2 player in his native Poland, convinced 16-year-old Max to join the men's league this season in order to improve his game against more physical players.
"We needed someone who could run," said Mariusz.
The family bond helped the two find each other on the field, as Max passed the ball to his dad for the opening goal, while Mariusz returned the favour on his son's winning goal.
"We know each other and how we play," said Max, a Grade 11 student at College Heights Secondary.
Queensway took a 3-0 lead, but Eden pulled within a goal at 3-2 before Max scored his goal with about 10 minutes to play. Eden fought hard in the last minutes but could only get one goal back.
Mother Nature provide the drama as United F.C. became Division 1 men's soccer champs.
An early goal by Mike Apa in the 20th minute was all United FC needed to capture a 1-0 win over Cariboo Brewmasters. Just as the half ended, Mother Nature showed her wrath, forcing the teams to play in a downpour during the final 45 minutes.
Only three wins separated the two teams during the regular season as United FC had a 13-1-2 recored, while Cariboo was 10-2-5.
In the masters division, the RBC DS Gunners finished off what they couldn't last season, knocking off the upstart Caledonians 3-1 in extra time.
Glen Thompson, mid-fielder for the Gunners, said after losing on penalty kicks in the 2010 final, the team used the experience and a couple new recruits to go undefeated all season.
"It's great," said Thompson about the team's 12-3-0 regular season and 2-0 playoff records. "It's the first time we've won the league and the championship."
The Gunners opened the scoring on Darren Coogan's penalty kick, but the Caledonians tied the match 1-1 in the dying minutes on a penalty kick of their own by Bill Borg. In extra time, goals from Gary Rawlings and Mick Kearns sealed the win for the Gunners.
