The Whistler-Squamish rivalry will be kicked into high gear on the soccer pitch on Saturday afternoon (April 17), as the N&B Construction/ Cardinal Concrete Squamish Thunder take on Whistler's Team Amsterdam in the championship final of the Howe Sound Men's Soccer League.
The Thunder come into the game riding an emotional high after defeating Whistler's GLC in a hard-fought 4-3 overtime upset in the semi-final game on Sunday (April 11). Thunder Captain Delmar Joseph scored the game winner after heading in a free kick from teammate Dani Muir six minutes into overtime.
"It was such a huge goal and a huge confidence booster for us," said Thunder player/ manager Kevin Schellenberg.
"It was a great game. Very fast with frequent chances at both ends. It's always a tight game against the GLC."
GLC forward Richie Middleton was disappointed with the outcome, but gave full credit to the Thunder for the win.
"It was an outstanding game," said Middleton.
"We missed a lot of chances, but their goaltending was the difference - he was absolutely phenomenal. We had enough chances but they played really well."
The Thunder are also experiencing a wave of confidence after closing out the 2003/04 season with an eight-game winning streak.
"It's an exciting time for our team right now," said Schellenberg. "It's our first season together with a bunch of new players and we're playing with a lot of confidence right now."
The Thunder will have to pull off another upset if they hope to defeat the league champion Amsterdam, who has a commanding lead in the season series against the Thunder, beating the Squamish squad three times throughout the regular season.
"We've been playing really well lately and the whole team has showed a lot of heart and dedication towards our goal of winning the championship," said Amsterdam captain Shaun Hughes. "But you've gotta give it to the Thunder, they've been playing awesome - it's gonna be a great game."
Throughout the playoffs, the Thunder have been trying to come out strong off the start - a strategy which has paid off with early goals in many of their eight wins. When they don't score first, the Thunder have rallied from behind by playing aggressively.
"We welcome the challenge of being the underdogs," said Schellenberg. "We have confidence in the way we're playing and in ourselves. We've got one thing in mind - and that's to win."
