It was the Cinderella story of the Whitehorse Minor Soccer season.
After finishing last in the regular season, Impact Well Drilling went on to win eight in a row, moving up from worst to first.
“We were outgunned on paper but they used the full-field to their advantage at the end,” said Impact Well Drilling coach Peter Grundmanis. “It was unbelievable, going from dead last, getting pounded every night, to winning the whole thing—it’s incredible.”
Impact took the U-12 title with a 1-0 win over Medicine Chest at the Yukon Championships on Sunday.
Getting the lone goal was Benjamin Grundmanis, rifling a long, bouncing shot from 25 yards out, just finding the far bottom right corner.
“I wasn’t too sure (if it would go in), I’m just kind of lucky, I guess,” said Benjamin.
In the low-scoring game, Medicine Chest dominated the first half before the tides turned in the second, with Impact taking control.
“I think the field is tilted because in the first half they hardly got out of their end,” said Medicine Chest coach Ken Vickerman. “We kept them hemmed in for, I’d say three-quarters of the half—we just couldn’t put the ball in the hole.”
“I moved a player from defence to forward to generate a little more offence—not that he dominated play, but it made a small difference,” said Grundmanis. “As the game went on I thought the longer we hang in there it’ll be to our advantage.”
Getting the MVP nod for Impact was net minder Tia Oster, whose talent Grundmanis saw while facing her last year in the U-11 final.
“When I found out she was on my team, I thought, I want her in the final,” said Grundmanis. “Because she’s money in the final.”
For Medicine Chest the whole team was named MVP.
“This weekend all my kids stepped up at least one level from where they were playing in the regular season—that’s how well they played,” said Vickerman. “All this weekend the goal-scoring was spread all around. I think there was one kid who scored two goals, all the rest of them had just one.”
Impact also won the teams’ first postseason encounter 3-2 on Saturday.
In the fight for third, Coates Services defeated Henry Gulch Exploration 7-2.
“We were chipping away—I think we probably had the edge in play a little bit so it was consistent in terms of scoring goals,” said Coates coach John Pereira. “One of their stronger players was hurt, so I think that hurt them.”
Alex Hansen, with a two-goals performance, was named Coates’ MVP. Coates’ other multi-goal scorers was Aiden Allen with three.
Alkan Air flies over Woodhouse
After 40 minutes of play, Alkan Air looked to have secured the U-13 title with a 5-2 lead. However, that didn’t stop them from going on a huge run, scoring five more in eight minutes to go up 10-2 over Woodhouse Business Consulting, eventually taking the game 10-3.
“In the tournament they really started doing the sharp passes and staying together as a team,” said Alkan Air coach Mike Reed. “I told them to go into their end and forecheck and when they do that (the opposition) makes an error and loses possession of the ball.
“It was an effective strategy.”
Getting the bulk of goals was Tanner Borsa with four, plus Dylan Reed, Cole Morris and Ti Nordahl each got two.
Goals aside, Morris was named MVP for his skill and commitment.
“The kid is phenomenal,” said Reed. “He plays forward and he’s dangerous in scoring. If he’s trying to score at one end of the field and the other team gets the ball, he’ll run all the way back and defend the net. He stopped easily half a dozen goals in the gold medal game.”
Getting the corresponding MVP nod for Woodhouse was goal-scorer Landon Worsfold.
“He was always in the front, passing, scoring and he always seemed to advance the ball,” said Woodhouse coach Shari Worsfold.
In the battle for bronze, Bilsten Creek Tree Service narrowly held on after getting an early five-goal lead to come out on top 7-6 against Sportslife.
“In the second half they came close to tying it up, but we pulled the win out of the bag,” said Jordan Davignon, substitute head coach for Bilsten Creek.
“They never (tied it 6-6)—we were always a little bit ahead and that’s how we like it.”
Connor Morgan was named Bilsten’s MVP.
“He worked really hard, ran hard and just had fun,” said Davignon.
In the game, Bilsten’s Keiran Halliday scored a hat trick.
Mobile Maintenance captures U-15 title
Down 1-0 after a goal by Remax’s Curtis Hills, Mobile Maintenance bounced back with three unanswered goals to take the U-15 title Sunday.
“That’s probably the hardest they’ve worked all season,” said Mobile Maintenance coach Scott Wood. “It was worth the wait.”
Getting the Maintenance goals were Thomas Scoffin with two and Nigel Sinclair-Eckert with one. Goaltender Patrick Soprovich was named MVP.
Remax’s MVP was goalkeeper Calahan Guidolin, who kept the score down with lots of diving saves.
“If it wasn’t for him that score would have been run up a lot higher,” said Torgerson.
In a high-scoring contest for third, Fountain Tire took an 11-8 win over Physio Plus.
“We were the underdogs throughout the whole season,” said Fountain coach Melissa Smith. “They pulled their socks up and proved to everybody they can do it and they did it.”
Not afraid of getting a little dirty, goalkeeper Stacy Macklon was named Fountain’s MVP.
“She’s awesome,” said Smith. “She’ll dodge, she’ll dive, she’ll do everything.”
Getting Fountain on the board with multiple goals were Matthew Pollard, Graham Maynard-Pearson and Jesse Cebuliak each with two.
Austin Turner-Davis and Michael Hare each scored a pair of goals for Physio.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com