The Whitehorse Minor Soccer Toonie Tournament wasn’t limited to Whitehorse teams last weekend.
Dawson City and Haines Junction had teams in all three divisions at the mid-season indoor tournament at the Canada Games Centre.
“We were just happy. We were happy Dawson and Haines could come so it would be fun for other people,” said Creative Works player Antoine Krahn. “Everyone had fun and that’s pretty much the point of the game, to have fun.”
Krahn’s Creative Works team had another reason to be happy.
They scored their way into the top spot with a 5-2 win over SportsLife in the U9 final on Saturday.
Creative Works’ Luke Cozens had a hat trick in the final while teammates Kade Bringsli and Krahn kicked in individual goals.
Shamus O’Brien scored both SportsLife goals in the gold medal match.
“This tournament was great because we had just about everybody score,” said SportsLife coach Lindy Dunlop. “It was a whole team effort, which was really nice to see.”
Creative Works almost didn’t make the final. They defeated Sale Salvage in a shootout in the semifinal. Lucas Henderson booted in the winning goal and Cozens stopped all five Sale Salvage shooters in the shootout.
Epic Pizza captured the U9 bronze in a win over Sale Salvage.
Elks douse Firefighters in U7 final
The Whitehorse Elks are shaping up to be the team to beat this season in U7. The team has a rather unbalanced win-loss record.
“Throughout the whole season we pretty much dominated it,” said Elks coach Dianne Pawluk. “We’ve only lost two games all season and tied one game.”
The Elks went undefeated in the Toonie tourney, beating the Whitehorse Firefighters Association 2-1 in the gold medal match.
“But this was the best tournament because they played together more as a team instead of having a couple guys scoring,” said Pawluk. “Pretty much everyone scored today and put in their best efforts.”
Elks’ Carlos Magsucang scored in the first half and Brendon Wilcox had the game-winner in the second half.
The Firefighters tied the final 1-1 with a goal from Souleymane Sangaro.
“A lot of the games were close all weekend, so it was a great weekend,” said Firefighters coach Arlo Oriordan. “The kids had fun, so everyone is happy.”
Dawson City defeated the Electrical Shop 2-1 for bronze in U7.
ClaimsPro claims U11 gold
ClaimsPro went undefeated en route to gold in U11, but it was by no means a cakewalk for the team.
ClaimsPro narrowly held on for a 3-2 win over Yukon Outfitters in the U11 gold medal match.
“It was awesome, they really played like a team this tournament,” said ClaimsPro coach Sarah Hanson. “We had one sub that was sick, when we had one, so they pretty much had to play the whole time, which sometimes helps because they get a lot of minutes under their belts.
“They all played outstanding all together. Everyone played well, everyone contributed.”
The five goals in the final were put in by two players. ClaimsPro’s Joe Hanson had a hat trick in the final. Ben Kishchuk scored both for Yukon Outfitters.
“I think all of them were playing their hearts out,” said Outfitters coach Bruce Bennett. “We came down with a few injuries sliding on that grass in there, had some twisted ankles, pulls and sprains. It was a pretty busy tournament - intense starting Friday, having two or three games a day.”
Wolverines won the bronze in a 5-2 victory over Alpine Bakery.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com