We made it! Finals day. Win or lose, our last men’s game of the season. A season that started with an “oh, shit, we’re in the Voyageurs Cup” and another heartbreaker against Pacific, ends with another round of the Ironworkers’ Derby. We’ve already watched the boys clinch the big prize, and the berth in next year’s Canadian Championship. Now we’re looking to see them be the first men’s team to win the double. Regular season, and playoff cups.
We gathered at noon in at the edge of the picnic area just southeast of the stadium. The traditional location dating all the way back to the original 2017 pregame tailgates. Due to schedules, and work, and various factors, we haven’t really had time for full-blown gatherings in the park this year. Usually we arrive, help set up the stadium, grab a quick drink or smoke and head in for the game, with people arriving along the way. But with only 1 match to watch at 4pm (a real nice change after last week, but if I’m being honest, I’d rather have both teams in the final), we had plenty of time to congregate, drink, eat, and be merry. And we did.
Bernie had promised after last week’s win that he was bringing pulled pork. It was delicious. Chicken wings, chips…even a barbecue made an appearance. And plenty of cold beverages. More and more folks arrived as the women’s game was about to kick off. We had a view from our spot of most of the field, so those of us who aren’t Whitecaps supporters remained in the park, enjoying food and drink.
OH! And Medieval Times.
You see, a rather larger group of folks, in costume, with ‘weapons’ arrived around the same time, and took the large clearing just behind us. Larp away, friends. We got quite a show. Other than one stray arrow that almost hit our group, it was good, clean, fun.
As we carried on, a faint voice from the parking lot – “You guys, I brought beer!” It was Maddy Mah. Clearly running late, as she was handling photography AND social media duties for the club. But she hustled over with some Craft Lager, and then dropped an incredible surprise on us.
“I made you guys a banner”
Always A Rover, hand-painted, and signed by Maddy, as a thank you to us for the support. I think all the dust from the jousting is getting in my eyes. What a touching gesture from one of those players who meant so much to us as a group. She’s an amazing artist, fantastic photographer, incredible player, and even better human being. Our players truly make it easy to support them. The University of Toronto is getting an absolute gem. That one gets a permanent place on the railing.
As the women’s game ended (2-1 for the Caps), a few folks headed over to hang our banners and flags. The rest of us stayed and packed up what was left of the food and marched over for 2 hours of hopefully good times.
Although this wasn’t a home game for us, officially, we were set up in the usual spot behind the south goal. Unusually, there were bleachers and fencing set up at the other end…huh. Altitude has travelling support. That’s cool. The big corporate flags, the blue smoke, the drums, the loud youngsters (some REALLY young). It looks like that loud, obnoxious fella from that day in North Van found some pals. File this all under “things you absolutely love to see in League 1.”
The 2024 League 1 BC Men’s Final was not a game to show up late or leave early. Before we could even finish a round of “We are Rovers” on the kickoff, we are up 1-0. Wait, WHAT??
Now, it depends who you ask….the scoreboard when I turned around said 30 seconds. But I probably celebrated a bit first. The clock on the Youtube stream showed 15 seconds. Michael McColl on the commentary said 7 seconds. Whatever the time. That was insane. A set play, off the opening kickoff. It looked like a play from the other football, everybody running their assigned route in perfect time. Mejia-Otuomagie-Mejia-Habibulla-turn and fire. Off the post and in. The funny thing is, Kian Proctor was so excited to get going that he (borrowing the other football term) false started, and the referee blew it to restart. Normally, that would spoil the surprise for the defense, but the Rovers ran the play again, to perfection. What a start. “We’re on pace for 90 goals” someone shouted.
Things settled a bit after the quick start, but in the 32nd minute, League 1 Defender of the Year, Swanguardians Men’s Player of the Year, Harvard Male Student Athlete of the Year, etc, etc Nik White rose up on a corner kick and did what he does to every ball in the air – hit it with his head. This time, it found the back of the net. 2-0 Rovers! More smoke, more flags, more singing. A large group of young lads joined our section, and wanted to drum, so at this point we were pretty rowdy, rambunctious, and loud.
Second half. 45 minutes to another trophy. What could possibly go wrong for a team that’s been on the unhappy side of some comebacks and last minute heroics? Sure, we’ve all heard that 2 goal leads are the most dangerous in sports. Superstition, surely. Oh. Altitude scored. That’s fine. 2-1 isn’t so dangerous, right? Let’s just control the play, and take it home.
Just as things were looking to tip a bit further in Altitude’s direction, the referee, who will have tennis elbow after handing out THIRTEEN YELLOW CARDS in the game, gave the Altitude player a yellow card. But when there’s only 22 players on the pitch, and you’re handing out 13, it’s likely that someone got a second. And that’s what happened here. Altitude, down 2-1 with 18 minutes left, is now down a man. Let’s just ride this one out, shall we?
Because winning easy is hard, apparently, that’s not how it was going to go down. With 8 minutes to go, the referee, who I again remind you, handed out a bakers dozen of yellow cards on the day, hadn’t had enough screen time. Altitude player goes down near the end line, in the box. Referee blows whistle, points to spot. Shirley, you can’t be serious right now. She is, and Altitude converts, as the clock ticks past 83:00. We’re all tied up, and looking at penalties. (Or, the possibility of our past demons haunting us and giving up another late one. Nobody was saying it out loud, FWIW.) Blue smoke wafts through the north end of the stadium, and the Altitude drum fires up once again.
You know that old cliche that sports commentators will always use – “If you wrote this in a script, they’d reject it because it’s not believable” – have I got one for you.
Erik Edwardson, who spent most of the season recovering from injury, our former MVP, League 1 Golden Boot winner (2022), who has been with us since 2018, checked in to the game in the second half for Massud Habibullah. Erik Edwardson, who means so much to our little group of pirates. The guy who led the team over to our section in Victoria last year after the loss. The guy who had a box full of hats from his clothing line dropped off in our section prior to the game as a thank you for our support. THE guy we could point to:
“THESE are the types of people and players we’re supporting.”
“THIS guy should be playing pro.”
That Erik Edwardson was fouled in the box 3 minutes after Altitude tied the game. That Erik Edwardson stepped up to the spot, looking for his first goal of the season. A goal that would give us a lead in the final minutes and give us the double. While wearing one of his Inner Motives hats on top of my sweaty head, I thought to myself, “there has never been a more sure thing than this guy scoring this goal.” I’m a Maple Leafs fan. I know sure things.
Bedlam. Keeper goes the wrong way. Erik runs to our section to celebrate, and gets mobbed by the young lads, the old lads, and the rest of us. I’m standing on top of the railing, screaming through a cloud of smoke, as the rest of the players join the mosh pit. What a storybook ending. 3-2 Rovers!
Friends, the referee had other plans. With the clock on 90, Altitude had a corner. A player went down in the box, and Mr. 13 Yellows pointed to the spot. AGAIN. 3 penalties in 8 minutes. A record? Who cares. We’ve already had Erik be a hero, now maybe it’s time for Justyn to do some penalty magic and save us. I turned to whoever was standing next to me, and sounding as certain as I could (liquid courage) I said “Too much pressure. He’s going over the bar, like Michael Bradley.” I should have played the lottery that day. Over the bar. Pandemonium.
The Football Gods weren’t done though. Altitude gave it one more push in – ugh – stoppage time. This time, the script said that Justyn Sandhu was going to slap a shot away that was headed for the corner. Finally, there’s the whistle.
They did it. Make it a double. The first men’s team in League 1 BC history. Erik Edwardson with the winning goal. La dee dee…
Chris Corrigan turned and said “We won? We Won!” as we all felt a moment of relief, followed then by nothing but joy. The last time we were in this position, we stormed the pitch in celebration. This time, it was more of a saunter. But in the end, it was all the same. We hugged our players. We hugged each other. We celebrated and sang with our players on the pitch. We pulled out the big smoke cans. We cheered when they got their medals. We sang when they lifted the cup(s).
And then…
Ivan Mejia and Gabo Escobar sought me out in the crowd. I’d been wandering around waving the Swanguardians flag since the final whistle. Ivan grabbed it from me, ran out to the center spot, and planted it. Just like Devin O’Hea did in 2022 when we won our first trophy. And wouldn’t you know, we’ve got another plug of Swangard turf in the end of that flag pole to take to the 2025 Voyageur’s Cup.
Later on, while we engaged in another tradition (celebrating big victories at Mahony’s in Stamps Landing, where this adventure all started way back in 2017) he told us that he did it for Devin. “Familia.” Then he chugged beer out of the League 1 trophy.
“We do it for you guys.”
Ditto, Star Man.
This is a match recap. So what happened at Mahony’s stays at Mahony’s. But it was a lot of fun. A fantastic way to end a historic year with an incredible group of people. Players, coaches, staff, supporters, friends, family. We are Rovers. We are the Champions.
See you next season.
