The U15 Athabasca FC soccer team came up short over the weekend during Tier IV Rural Provincials Tournament in St. Paul. In the final match-up, they lost 2-1 to Vermilion, which forced the team to settle for silver.
The tournament went July 6-8, with Athabasca FC beginning the tournament with two games. First, they fell 1-nothing to the host team, St. Paul United. In their next game, they just blasted away Peace River by a 17-1 score.
"We then played in the semi-final against Linden," team manager Amy Walling said. "We were down 3-nothing, but then the team bounced back, and won it 4-3, which put us in that fateful final against Vermilion."
Despite the loss, Walling said that the team still played their hearts out.
"We lost, but we still got a medal," she said. "They played as a team. Their first game in the tournament was not as good as their last three games, but they still played as a team. I feel they deserved to win the gold, but it simply did not happen. They win as a team, and they lose as a team. Luck just was not with them in the final."
During the gold-medal final, Jack Wigham scored the only goal for Athabasca FC.
St. Paul United managed to snag the bronze, as they edged out Linden by a 3-2 score.
Walling added the players obviously felt disappointed that they had to lose their game to get the silver medal.
"But after a few days, they will hopefully hold their head up high," she said. "They worked hard, and they earned that medal."
As for next year's plans, Walling said they are still in the works.
"We are just taking it year-for-year," Walling continued. "Lots of our players will be moving on to the U17 team next year, but we will also be getting some players from the U13 team as well. You win some, you lose some when this happens, but you just gotta go with it."
The U13 Athabasca Spartans did not get to play in the provincials tournament this year in Carstairs July 6-8, as they only finished second in their Tri-County Cup tournament June 16-17 against Ardrossan.
"Unfortunately, only the winner of that tournament got to qualify," Spartans coach Leslie Olson said. "But we did have a fantastic year, and we even beat Athabasca United during the tournament, something we never did all season. The kids put their heart and soul into their playing this year, and they had a strong performance during the season."
Athabasca United ended up finishing third during the Tri-County tournament.
U15 Girls take 7th in their tournament
A couple of other teams from Athabasca did make it to their provincial-level tournaments in St. Paul July 6-8.
The U15 girls finished seventh overall, winning 6-nothing over Acme in that consolation game.
During the tournament, they were edged out by St. Paul 5-4 in their first game.
During this game, Danielle Ewaskiw scored two of the Athabasca goals, while Samantha Pysyk and Carlie Christiansen each scored the other two.
The second game did not go well for the girls, as they fell 5-1 to the Camrose Vikings, with Georgia Johnson scoring the team's only goal. In their third game, the team played to a 4-all draw against Whitecourt, with Danielle Ewaskiw again scoring two of the goals, while Claire Francis and Carlie Christiansen scored the other two.
The seventh-place game saw Athabasca scoring all the goals, with Ewaskiw scoring three of them, while Claire Francis, Samantha Pysyk and Ava Jardine each scored one.
U19 Boys settle for 6th
The U19 Boys fell 6-1 in their final fifth-place game against the Camrose Vikings, forcing them to settle for sixth overall in the tournament, with Kierran Krawec scoring the team's only goal for that game.
During their first game, they lost 3-1 to the Lacombe Panthers, with Brandon Lonsdale scoring Athabasca's only goal. Their second game went a lot better, as they cooled off the Hanna Heat 3-1. Shaun Funk scored all three goals for the team during this match-up.
But in the third round-robin game, they got shut-out by Whitecourt by a 2-nothing score.
