The Central Cyclones have always been strong offensively, but this season, building strength in defence as been their key to success.

The Cyclones won their third straight Moose Jaw High School Boys Soccer League championship on Wednesday, beating the Weyburn Eagles 4-2 in the final at the Canada Games Soccer Field.

“I'm very happy with the growth that I've seen from the boys this season,” said Jason Brown, head coach of the Cyclones.

Max Pilsworth scored a hat trick, including two in the first, to lead the Cyclones to the league championship. Dieu Lusambya had the other goal, coming in the second half as Central opened up a 4-0 lead.

Weyburn battled hard in the game, but the two goals in the first ended up being the difference as their comeback attempt came up short.

“They were up 2-0 and the second half was 2-2 for both teams, so I'm pretty happy with the second half,” said Weyburn head coach John Megenbir.

This was the first year in the Moose Jaw league for the Eagles.

“It was a fantastic league this year for all teams, we had nice competition and some nice close games, so really happy,” said Megenbir.

Central came into the year knowing that they could score as their offence has won games for them over the past couple of years, but they were able to improve their defensive play throughout the season.

That ended up playing a big part in their win on Wednesday as they were able to hold off the Eagles in the first half.

“Over the past couple of weeks, we've really started to play better team defence,” said Brown. “It's been the whole team, the whole team has really pulled together.

“We just started to figure it out more, our offence has been there all year, but the defence has really come around.”

The Cyclones, along with Vanier, will travel to Kipling this weekend for the 2A boys regional championship. Central opens up against Notre Dame on Friday at 1:00pm, while the Vikings will face the hosts at 11:00am. The final is on Saturday.

The Peacock Tornadoes are at the 3A level and they will host regionals this weekend. They open up against Prince Albert St. Mary on Saturday morning at 9:30am, while Swift Current takes on Prince Albert Carlton in the other semifinal. The final is at 3:00pm at the Canada Games Soccer Field.

The Eagles travel to Regina for their 3A regional tournament. They take on Balgonie Greenall on Friday and the winner advances to Saturday's final against Yorkton Regional.