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Soccer teams collide at indoor championships

The 2013 Northwestel Indoor Soccer Championships is no small affair.
soccer

The 2013 Northwestel Indoor Soccer Championships is no small affair.

This year the tournament saw 50 teams, representing Whitehorse, Haines Junction, Dawson City, Mayo and Atlin, spread over five divisions, playing at three locations.

With five divisions, there could only be five teams with gold medals following the finals at the Canada Games Centre on Sunday.

Sportslife clips Eagles’ wings

Sportslife had a bad start to the championship with three losses, and a slow start to the final, falling behind 1-0, but the team wasn’t done.

Sportslife came back to defeat Eagle Construction 3-2 for gold in the U15 division.

“We lost our first three matches and came back from that to win the gold, so it was a real Cinderella story,” said Sportslife coach Lorne Harris. “Every kid on the team just gave 110 per cent, even after losing the first three. They came back (with) determination and sheer will, and playing together as a team, managed to come back from that and win the gold.

“You hope for, as a coach, a team that doesn’t give up, keeps trying and trying, and they did.”

Sportslife’s Christopher Holmes scored two goals, including the game-winner, in the final. Teammate Malcom Muir also scored.

“Every single player on the team deserves the win and takes a piece of credit for it because they all did great,” said Harris.

Builders Supplyland built a 7-6 win over Austring, Fendrick & Fairman for the bronze medal.

Peter Jacob, Fabrizio Rayo-Valquez and Sam Lee each had two goals for Builders, while teammate Ben Grundmanis had one. Lee had the game-winner.

“We played well. We were a bit unlucky in the semi - we had some players missing - but honestly, it was a good result for the team,” said Builders coach Kyle Risby. “They played well, fought to the end, and they never gave up, which was nice.

“The kids went out, had fun and played well.”

Junction squad makes it two in a row

The Haines Junction Eagles now have two gold medals from two age divisions.

After winning gold in U9 last year, the Eagles were golden again in the U11 division on Sunday.

The Junction team won gold with a 10-2 thumping of Locksmith Services.

The Eagles went undefeated at the championship with a four-goal win being their closest match.

“Three of those kids play with (Yukon) Strikers (rep club) in Whitehorse on a weekly basis,” said Eagles coach Cindi Cowie. “All the kids have been playing together for five years and they all know each other really well and they’ve practised a lot over the last five years.”

Leading the charge for the Eagles was Dawson Weir with six goals. Also scoring was Callum Weir, Ole Heath, Douglas McKinnon and Jay Symanski.

Intersport placed third in another landslide win, downing Robert Service Campground by a score of 9-1.

Energy North stops the presses

Energy North scooped the Yukon News in the U9 final, shutting out the News with a narrow 1-0 win.

Energy’s Connor Cozens scored the lone goal while goalkeeper Gabriel Boudreau was in net for the only shutout performance of the five gold medal matches.

The Yukon News defeated Energy North 5-3 in the first match of the championship before Energy North won their next four.

“I knew everyone wanted to get redemption on the orange team (Yukon News) because we already lost to them and they were all upset about that,” said Energy coach Travis Banks. In the final, “They got the one goal and held it together in the end. They all had a lot of heart it in, they weren’t making fun of the other team or anything.”

Sale Salvage salvaged a bronze with a tight 5-4 win over The Deli.

Elks repeat in U7

The Whitehorse Elks scored a late-game goal to shimmy out a 4-3 win over Bocelli’s Pizza for the U7 gold.

The Elks, who went undefeated at the championships, won the same division last year.

Elks Myles Trefry and Luke Cozens both scored twice in the final with the latter getting the game-winner.

“We have a couple good players and a real strong team spirit,” said Elks coach Mark London. “The kids play very well together, they all get along for the most part. I had the same core of eight or nine players that showed up all year and they played really well together.

“They are eager to learn and eager to play.”

ERS served Tim Hortons a donut, beating Timmy’s 4-0 en route to capturing the bronze.

Business Solutions profits in U13 final

Klondike Business Solutions had the solution in the U13 final, zapping the Electrical Shop 8-5 for gold.

Whitehorse Star made their own headline with a 4-2 win over Auto Spa to win the bronze.

Contact Tom Patrick at

tomp@yukon-news.com