Both teams had their chances. Twice the Deli (7-1-1) and Pristine Auto Care (1-7-1) teams took leads over two halfs of play, only to drop them as the Deli eventually took the game 9-8 Wednesday evening at the Canada Games Centre.
“They’ve done awesome; they’ve had a great season so far,” said Deli coach Sharla Walsh. “I couldn’t be any prouder.”
“Our games have always been close, it hasn’t been disastrous,” said Pristine coach Sandy Nyland. “It’s always been one or two that we’ve lost by. Sometimes it’s just bad positioning and we’ve been limited on our subs. So we’ve been playing hard games.”
The score fell into a tie four times during the game. However, with just 7:11 remaining, the Deli scored the first of three straight goals, two of which came off of rebounds.
“The big thing, Ti (Nordahl), is that you have to grab it, rather than just pushing it away,” said Nyland, as if addressing her second-half goalkeeper. “Because they’re in there for rebounds.”
The game winner, scored by Will Rees, who recorded four goals in the contest, came 44 minutes in, when he picked up his own rebound off the side of the net
“They really gave their hearts in the second half,” said Walsh.
Pristine found themselves up 2-0 six minutes into the game. With some fancy ball handling Yougi Blackburn delivered the ball up the left wing and Nicola Lazeo-Fairman, Pristine’s player of the game, picked up Blackburn’s rebound to score.
Minutes later, it was the other way around, with Blackburn scoring his first of five goals, on Lazeo-Fairman‘s rebound.
“I didn’t correct anything,” said Walsh. “These guys are U13 — they know how to play. Some of them play rep, some of them have played rep in the past, so they really know what they’re doing…
“They just stepped it up and went to bat for the team. They know what to do.”
Pristine tied the game 4-4 early in the second half on a penalty shot that resulted from a handball. Tucking it in the top corner, Heiko Nyland, who took the shot, scored his first of two goals.
“It was a first for me,” said Heiko, of his penalty shot.
Despite the loss and the losing record, Nyland sees plenty of positives in her team’s performances.
“The thing is, when they started they weren’t doing those passes that they are now,” said Nyland. “You’re taking a group of kids who have not played together ever; you’re throwing them into a team and saying: let’s work that out. You don’t have practices — they’re working it out as they’re playing the games.
“So they might have the skills, but they have to work out how that other player plays … They’ve got to become a team.”
Taking into consideration the fact that Pristine was playing with only two subs Heiko saw another problem than teamwork.
“I think our goalie got kind of tired,” said Heiko. “All the team was kind of tired.”
For the Deli, both Steven Wohlfarth and Michael Amirault scored a pair of goals, while teammate Mitchell Read added another.
Other recent results
Wednesday U13
Co-Operators 11, Better Bodies 8
For Co-Operators:Tristan Olynk 4, Mike Wintemute 2, Ale Peters 3, Eric Vasseur 1, Lynsey Keaton 1.
For Better Bodies: Matthew Smith 3, Corey Baxter 1, Kasey Fernandes 2, Travis Banks 1, Tanicka Reeves 1.
Mobile Maintenance 4, Northland Beverages 1
For Mobile Maintenance: Kieran Morehouse 2, Liam Webster 1, Aidan Bradley 1.
For Northland Beverages: Camilla Lopez 1.
Wednesday U11
Wintermute Electric 8, Goal Done Contracting 1
For Wintermute Electric: Hannah Milner 2, Sam Wintemute 3, Jude Lemoine 1, Jesse Berezan 2.
Monday U13
Amboca 10, Mobile Maintenance 2
For Amboca: Peter-Joe Jensen 3, Trygg Jensen 2, Camille Galloway 2, Andrew Scoffin 2, Calden Hoefs with 1
For Mobile: Kieran Moorhouse 1, Liam Webster 1.
The Deli 2, Northland Beverages 0
For Deli: Tristan Walsh 2.
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com