The luck of the Irish didn’t rub off on two Whitehorse soccer squads at the first annual International Shamrock Co-ed Soccer Tournament over the weekend in Juneau, Alaska.
Whitehorse Pale Ale and Whitehorse Chilkoot - sponsored by Yukon Brewing, in case you were wondering - joined four Juneau teams in the inaugural tourney.
The Pale Ales went 2-4 in the tournament to take fourth while Chilkoot went 1-5 to take fifth.
“This tournament was amazing,” said Pale Ale captain Sylvaine Laferriere. “The 23 players I brought with me to Juneau had a blast. They are probably the best players I’ve played with in my life.”
Whitehorse Pale Ale defeated Juneau Yellow 7-6 and beat the Chilkoot 6-1 for their wins.
Playing for bronze, Pale Ale lost 5-0 to Juneau White on Sunday. They had a much closer, 5-4 loss to Juneau White just the day before.
“It was a really good weekend,” said Laferriere. “But on the Sunday we didn’t have any legs.
“We had a lot of big competition over there.”
In the Pale Ales’ win over Juneau Yellow, the Whitehorse team clawed its way back from down 4-0
Ale’s Rachel Pattimore was named MVP for the women, as voted by all the players in the tournament.
“She’s a hell of a player,” said Laferriere. “She plays with determination. She’s a nice defensive player, but she also scored three goals during the weekend. She’s a really, really good player.”
Chilkoot took fifth by default when Juneau Yellow failed to produce a full lineup in the fifth/sixth place match. The teams played an exhibition match that ended in a 7-7 tie.
“We won by default, but we had a scrimmage and kept score,” said Chilkoot captain Liz Bradley.
“The Juneau teams were wonderful. They are a lot of fun - they’re a really friendly bunch. They play quite a high level of soccer.
“We just played our hearts out, but we didn’t find the net as often as we would have liked.”
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com