For some, it was a stressful day to be a goalkeeper. In each of the three age-groups participating in the weekend’s Subway’s Yukon Outdoor Soccer Championships, either the gold-medal game or bronze-medal game went to a shootout.
One came in the U-11 final, where Andrew Lefebvre booted the game-winning shootout goal to give Surgical Incision a 2-1 win over Sit Easy Office Furniture.
“It was really tight—they’re both really good passing teams,” said Surgical Incision coach Syd Cannings. “My team played very disciplined. For this age-group it’s quite a feat to play disciplined.”
Getting the regulation-time goals were Surgical Incision’s Kyran Allen and Amy Parker, who was named Sit Easy’s MVP in the game.
“She played a really strong game,” said Sit Easy coach Sean McLeish of Parker. “She was an anchor in the backfield and kept the ball away from our net.”
Taking third was Northern Denture Clinic, defeating White Pass 3-1. Northern Denture took a 3-0 lead with two goals by Isaac Allen and one by Frejean Pourier before Whitepass’ Nicholas Dobush put in two quick goals in the last 10 minutes of the second half.
“Two (goals) like that and suddenly everyone got pretty serious and sober,” said Northern Denture coach Kevin McDonnell. “It could have gone either way.”
Like with Surgical Incision and a few other teams in the championships, the entire Northern Denture squad was named as MVPs.
“The whole team played awesome,” said McDonnell. “They are great kids to coach.”
Dawson City team takes U-10 division
Despite limited preparation, with just three practices and a game against parents before coming to Whitehorse, Dawson City’s Tr’ondek Hwech’in won gold with a 2-1 shootout win over Murraya Dental in the U-10 division.
Many of the Tr’ondek Hwech’in team came down from Dawson to win the U-9 division in last year’s championships.
“This year we didn’t have enough players to play in the U-9,” said Tr’ondek Hwech’in coach Irwin Gaw. “So we had six nine-year-olds and three players that were of age, so they’re mostly nine-year-olds in a 10-year-old category. So they did very well.
“We started our season two weeks ago, when the field was ready to play. We’ll start an outdoor season now, but we really don’t have a league, we just get enough kids and they play a game back and forth.”
The Dawson crew took a 1-0 lead in the first half with a goal by Ethan Gaw before Murraya knocked their level of play up a notch in the second, putting pressure on Tr’ondek Hwech’in and scoring a goal by Sophie Janke.
“We started playing more mid (field),” said Murraya coach Ginny Coyne, speaking of the second half. “I think that helped.”
“We had freezies,” piped in Jarred Morgan of Murraya. “We had sugar rushes.”
Emphasizing the benefits of teamwork, both coaches named their entire team as MVPs.
“They all played as a team and contributed,” said Gaw. “There were a few kids that stood out, but they all were awesome.”
The bronze went to the Yukon News team, winning 3-1 over Home Sweet Home Homebaking. Like the finalists, the whole News team was given the MVP nod by their coach.
“Everyone played awesome and three or four of them played the best game they have played all year,” said Yukon News coach Doug Harris.
The News’ goals were scored by Logan Morris and Ryan Hindson, who put in two.
Peak Fitness works out U-9 win
Although Intersport was able to pull off a 3-1 win over Peak Fitness in the round-robin section of the tournament, in a rematch in the finals the latter won gold with a 1-0 shutout.
“During the course of the weekend there was a softball tournament as well, so the line-ups changed during the weekend—that probably was the main reason (for the loss in the finals),” said Intersport coach Nils Clarke.
“We were more settled down,” said Peak Fitness coach Paul Kishchuk. “We had more fun the second time around—we got over the emotion of the first time through.”
Getting the lone, game-winning goal was Dylan Cousins, who scored midway through the first half and was named MVP.
“He did a fine job in net (in the second half),” said Kishchuk. “I leaned on him for that and he stepped right up.”
Getting the corresponding MVP honour on the Intersport bench was Lukas Jirousek.
“He has determination and just never quits,” said Clarke. “He has a great attitude, never complains.”
In the battle for third, All Terrane Exploration Services won 2-1 over Enviro Lube in a shootout that went through every team member before the winning goal was kicked by MVP Gary Schulze, who also played in net.
“He was an awesome goalie the entire game and through the shootout,” said Madden. “And he got the winning shot.”
The championships were held at the Vanier and George White soccer fields with the final games taking place Sunday afternoon.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com