Manitoba clubs claimed a total of three medals from the three Canada Soccer national championships across the country on Monday.
The FC Winnipeg Lions had to settle for the silver medal after a 1-0 loss to Western Halifax FC in the national men’s final. It was their first medal since they won bronze in 2013. Their last national championship came in 2002 when they were then called the Sons Of Italy Lions.
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The Bonivital Soccer Club won the boys Under-17 Cup in Fredericton, NB. They defeated Mistral Sherbrooke out of Quebec 3-1 in the gold medal match.
Rinor Hoxha scored all three goals to lead Bonivital to the championship. It was the first ever title for the province of Manitoba at the under-17’s. Bonivital finished the tournament undefeated after winning all five of their matches. In their five victories they outscored their opponents by a combined score of 20-3.
Bonivital SC was also Manitoba’s entry at the girls Under-17 Cup and they were forced to settle for a fourth place finish after they dropped the bronze medal game 2-0 to Nova Scotia’s Suburban FC.
Both of Manitoba’s teams at the Under-15 Cup were also playing for the bronze medal in Calgary, AB. Bonivital won Manitoba’s third medal as they knocked off the London Youth Whitecaps from Ontario 1-0 in the boys third place game. In the girls event FC Northwest suffered a 3-0 loss to Alberta’s Inter SC Edmonton to finish in fourth place.