Terry Wilson would have approved.
The championship game of the Terry Wilson Memorial Cup soccer tournament went to penalty kicks Friday afternoon at Rotary Fields before St. Mary's of Prince George defeated Notre Dame of Dawson Creek 3-2.
The teams were tied 2-2 after regulation time and a five-minute extra session. In the shootout, Matthew Kuc was the only goalscorer. He actually found mesh twice, but his first goal didn't count because he took his kick before the referee's whistle blew. The shot that won St. Mary's the title was a blast to the upper right corner.
"I was really nervous and I hated that I had to take it twice," said Kuc, a Grade 6 student.
"I was really excited [about scoring the winning goal]. It was awesome."
This was the second year for the tournament, a Catholic schools invitational event. Wilson, a teacher and administrator in the Catholic school system in Prince George and Quesnel before he succumbed to brain cancer in June of 2010, was passionate about the game of soccer and loved close battles on the pitch.
Friday's final -- which saw St. Mary's score the tying goal with less than a minute to play in regulation -- would have put a smile on his face.
"I think Terry would have loved that, especially the shootout in the end," said Rebecca Gilbert, who was Wilson's wife for 18 years. "They played the extra five minutes of overtime and then having to go to a shootout, he would have laughed at that for sure."
The one-day tournament also featured teams from Prince George schools Immaculate Conception and Sacred Heart, as well as St. Ann's from Quesnel. All teams were co-ed and formed by players in Grade 6 and 7.
After the championship game, the actual Terry Wilson Memorial Cup was paraded onto the field to the music of bagpipes. St. Mary's players were thrilled to be taking the impressive-looking mug to their trophy case.
"We've got a big school and everyone was just happy to win," Kuc said. "[The trophy] is huge -- it's very shiny."
Immaculate Conception also picked up some hardware, winning the Team Spirit trophy.
Terry Murphy, one of Wilson's best friends and one of the tournament organizers, said the event exceeded all expectations.
"It was a brilliant day," he said. "All our plans came true and it was fantastic. We're just delighted with the whole thing."
Next year, the tournament may expand to include entries from Williams Lake and Smithers.
"Williams Lake, their principal is all over this and he has promised next year they'll be here," Murphy said. "And Smithers, they do a trip to the Lower Mainland every spring and they stay in Prince George at one of our schools. So next year they're going to try to tie that in with the tournament, either on the way to Vancouver or on the way back."
