The Whitehorse Elks played an excellent game of catch-up in the U-7 finals of the 2011 Northwestel Indoor Soccer Championships that wrapped up Sunday at the Canada Games Centre.

However, after twice dropping their lead, Sale Salvage salvaged a 4-3 shootout win to capture the U-7 title.

“It was a good game. They all tried their hardest and did their best and it showed and paid off,” said Salvage coach Travis Banks. “Most of the other games were pretty easy wins for the team. (The final) was a change of pace.”

The Salvages’ Ty Beacon was the most dangerous on the turf. He scored his team’s opening goal two minutes into the game, its overtime goal - on a long shot just under the cross-bar - and the eventual game-winner in the shootout.

Also scoring for Sale Salvage were Isaac O’Brien. Teammate Kayne Morgan scored in the shootout to keep the team in the game.

Ian Paton scored both regulation goals for the Elks. Zach Willoughby tied the game in overtime.

“They loved this season,” said Elks coach Jen Stanyer. “I had a great team. I had all siblings, pretty much, on my team. They were just amazing. They’ve come so far this year. It’s been so much fun coaching them.”

In the battle for bronze, Duncan’s Limited secured the medal with a 6-5 victory over ORC Tree Services.

Haines Junction dunks Tim Hortons

The Haines Junction Eagles’ trip to Whitehorse was well worth it.

After an estimated 10 years since the team’s last title, the Eagles took gold in the U-9 division, with a 4-3 overtime win over Tim Hortons.

“This team has been practicing two days a week since September. I’ve had them in tournaments to improve their skills,” said Eagles’ Cindi Cowie. “We have such an incredible support system in Haines Junction, so I’m real lucky.

“I checked with some of the parents and I don’t think we’ve won gold there in 10 years, so it was a big deal for us.”

Finding the back of the Hortons’ net were Callum Weir and Ole Heath, each with two goals. Scoring for Hortons were Xavier Lesage, Seth Bennett and Chai McDiarmid.

“They played amazing,” said Horton coach Colleen Benoit. “Haines Junction has always been our hardest (competition) and they did fantastic - all of them. It was a great turnout.”

Selectricity Productions captured bronze with a 6-1 win over Locksmith Services.

 

Murraya Dental drills Vector Research

Murraya Dental arrived in the U-13 final with only one loss in the tournament, to the very team it was facing for the title. But with more attention paid to matching its opponents’ lines on the field, Murraya pulled out a 2-1 win over Vector Research for the U-13 title.

“Surprised,” said Murraya captain Callum Wood Ryan, when asked about the outcome, “because we lost our first game against them (6-5).

“(This time) we had different tactics. The line-ups were more evenly balanced.”

Despite being two years younger than his teammates - young enough for U-11 - Murraya’s Wyatt Baldwin scored both his team’s goals.

Vector’s lone goal scorer was Sean Clarke.

“We’re obviously evenly matched teams - we beat them 6-5 the first time,” said Vector coach Sean McLeish. “A bounce goes your way once and goes the other way the other time - that was probably the difference.”

In the bronze medal game, La Bicicletta B&B rode off with a 5-1 win over Mic Mac Toyota.

 

SportsLife dominates U-15 final

It was SportsLife that was soaring in the U-15 gold medal game, not Eagle Construction.

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SportsLife ran up a 5-2 lead by half and finished the game with a commanding 9-2 win for the title.

Scoring for SportsLife, which went undefeated in the tournament, were Allan Mark, Hannah Milner and Benjamin Grundmanis, each with two goals. Also scoring were Braydon Gendron, Liam Dinn and Josh Larouche with individual goals.

“Stephen Wohlfahrt was excellent in goal throughout the whole tournament,” said SportsLife coach Eckhard Krabel. “He kept our goal very, very clean which is the basis for winning the games.

“Cheyenne (Bradley) and France (Krabel) did really well as well,” he added. “Cheyenne was really good in forward, kept constant pressure on the other goalie and France was a solid defenceman.”

Eagle Construction only had one other loss in the tournament, also to SportsLife during the round-robin. Scoring for the silver medal team were Peter Joe Jensen and Tristan Rentmeister.

“They out-hustled us, out-played us - they deserve it,” said Eagle coach Craig Worsfold. “We had all tough games before so when we played them we were out of gas.”

In the fight for the bottom podium tier, Wintemute Electric shocked Henry Gulch Exploration with a 9-6 win for the bronze.

 

Boston Pizza slices the competition

Boston Pizza came out on toppings - er - top with a 3-0 shutout win over Access Consulting in the U-11 final.

“I said that when they play as a team, pass the ball around, they do really well. And that’s exactly what they did,” said Boston coach Cameron Kingscote. “They played unselfish soccer.”

Scoring for the pizza crew were Jamie Phillips, Samantha Ng and Jake Wawia. Getting the shutout - the only shutout in the five finals at the championships - was goalkeeper Thomas Brener.

“He stood on his head,” said Kingscote.

Yukan Canoe stayed afloat in a 3-2 win over Coates Services for the bronze.

Contact Tom Patrick at

tomp@yukon-news.com