Challenge Trophy final to feature Beauport and Edmonton
Posted on 7 October 2012 in Challenge Trophy
A new national champion will be crowned on Monday after Royal Sélect Beauport faces Edmonton Scottish in the 2012 Challenge Trophy senior mens championship final. The two sides advanced to the championship match after their semi-final victories on 7 October in Winnipeg, with Royal Sélect Beauport winning 2:1 over PEI FC and Edmonton Scottish knocking off defending champion Saskatoon HUSA Alumni with a 1:0 win over their 10-man opponent.
Edmonton and Beauport will meet in the Monday 8 October 2012 championship final at 12.30 local (13.30 ET / 10.30 PT) at the Winnipeg Soccer Complex in Winnipeg, MB. The match will be broadcast live via canadasoccer.com.
Royal Sélect Beauport advances to the championship final as the only perfect team in the competition, with four wins in four matches (two wins in the group phase and two wins in the elimination phase). Goalkeeper Vincent Cournoyer was perfect until the 70th minute of the semi-final match when PEI FCs Harminder Singh scored an equaliser against Beauport.
Beauports star from the bench, Boris Salou I Gervais, however, restored his teams lead just 10 minutes later in the 2:1 victory. The win sends Beauport back to the championship final for the first time since 2009 in Saskatoon. Between three trips to the Challenge Trophy competition, Boris Salou has scored 11 goals.
The other goal scorer in the Beauport-PEI semi-final match was Samuel Georget, curling in a free kick in the 17th minute. Like Salou I Gervais, Georget has scored four goals in the 2012 competition.
In the other semi-final clash, Edmonton Scottish took a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute after Kyle Yamada scored his second goal of the competition. Just six minutes later, Edmonton then went on the man advantage after forward Josh Northey was ejected from the match.
Undefeated Edmonton concluded the match without incident, improving to 3-1-0 in four matches. Like Beauport, Edmonton has conceded only one goal in four matches.
Also like Beauport, Edmonton Scottish has been to the national final once before. While Beauport has been there as recently as three years ago, however, this marks Edmontons first trip to the final in 20 years (an 0:1 loss to Norvan in 1992).
"We didnt just come here for the experience, we came here to get a gold medal," said Edmonton Scottish head coach Kevin Poissant. "Regardless of our opponent, we are looking forward to a strong 90 minutes (on Monday)."
While Beauport and Edmonton will meet in the final, PEI FC and Saskatoon HUSA Alumni will meet in the match for third place.
2012 CHALLENGE TROPHY CHAMPIONSHIP:
11th or 12th place -- FC Winnipeg Lions v Yellowknife FC
9th or 10th place -- Fredericton Reds v Winnipegs Hellas SC
7th or 8th place -- Halifax City v St. John's Holy Cross
5th or 6th place -- Surrey United Firefighters v AEK London
3rd or 4th place -- Saskatoon HUSA Alumni v PEI FC
Championship final -- Royal Sélect Beauport v Edmonton Scottish
