League1 BC Catch Up – Week 1: What You Missed In L1BC Action

The 2023 semi-pro soccer season is underway on Canada’s west coast as League1 BC officially kicked off its second season last weekend. An eight-game affair saw all clubs in action with a total of 17 goals throughout the weekend.

Leaving their mark from the first whistle, newcomers Harbourside FC made history in their home opener at Q’unq’inuqwstuxw Stadium against Langley’s Unity FC. Although having lost the opening women’s match 2-1 and drawing in the men’s match, Nanaimo truly came out in force to support their new semi-pro club with 1,216 fans filling the bleachers to cheer on Harbourside, breaking well clear of the the league’s previous attendance record of 700!

On the mainland, Burnaby’s TSS Rovers FC – the giant-slayers of this year’s Voyageurs Cup – ended up falling short against Nautsa’mawt FC at home. The visitors would pick up 4/6 available points in the doubleheader as Nautsa’mawt’s women’s side took a 2-0 victory while the men held off the Rovers to a 0-0 draw. Kat Tolnai and Sophia Ferreira would end up being the heroines for the Point Grey side as they buried their club’s first and second ever goals behind Mae Hobenshield.

The Victoria Highlanders and their Whitecaps counterparts faced off on Sunday at UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium, and unfortunately for the Highlanders, their streak of underperformance has continued into 2023. The home of stars like Matt Polster and Jamar Dixon failed to find any magic to beat the Whitecaps keeper in the women’s match, though the men’s side were able to fight back to a 1-1 final after a devastating own-goal early on.

Rounding out the weekend saw Rivers and Altitude kickoff in BC’s beautiful interior at Kamloops’ Hillside Stadium. The two sides would split the points evenly as RFC went on to take the men’s match 2-1 while Altitude mirrored that performance in the women’s game with Aurora Hughes-Goyette sealing the deal for Kinsmens’ finest at the 67′ mark.

Coming Up This Weekend

This coming weekend sees a Home-and-Home series between Nautsa’mawt and Harbourside starting Saturday at Thunderbird Stadium and ending on Sunday in Nanaimo. Harbourside will be looking to shutout their opponents to claim their first win(s) as a club, while Nautsa’mawt are hoping to hold on to their Juan De Luca Plate (won by Varsity FC last year) by continuing their predecessor’s winning ways.

The other three matches will see the Highlanders travel back to the mainland to visit the Rovers at Swangard, Unity take on Altitude in the latter’s long-awaited Home Opener at Kinsmen Stadium, and ending with Rivers tripping it to the big city to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps Academy at UBC.

Be on the look out for two hungry Rovers squads who are looking to secure their first points of the season while preparing for their second-round Voyageurs Cup match vs Pacific FC. Oppositely, their opponents from the provincial capital will be trying to capitalize on any chances given to them by the potentially disappointed and demoralized Rovers side to bring Victoria back into the win column.

Both the Rovers and Harbourside home matches will be streamed live on the official League1 BC YouTube channel.