Three Whitehorse Minor Soccer teams took in early Christmas presents, winning gold at the Toonie Tournament on Saturday at the Canada Games Centre.
In the closest of the three gold medal games, Northland Beverages downed Duncan’s Ltd. 3-2 in the U-11 final.
“It was well earned,” said Northland coach Paul Kishchuk. “Each game was close and fun.”
Down 2-0 at half-time, Northland closed the gap with goals from RJ Smallwood and Simon Kishchuk, pushing the game to overtime. Just 23 seconds into OT, Simon Kishchuk scored on a tight-angle shot after digging the ball out of the corner.
“It caught the keeper a bit unawares,” said Paul Kishchuk.
Northland Beverages went undefeated at the tournament.
In the battle for bronze, Qualita Cleaners cleaned house with a 3-2 win over Computec Embroidery. Down 2-1 to start the second half, Qualita’s Felix Maltais scored two goals in the first three minutes to give his team the win.
“He’s a real goal getter,” said Qualita coach Jennifer MacDougall.
After coming back from 3-0 for an overtime win in the semifinal, Electrical Shop were charged up for a 5-0 win over the Soccer Shoppe in the U-9 final.
“The score didn’t represent the game, it was a good game,” said Electrical Shop coach Spencer Rich. “Momentum carried us in the final, we got a couple goals and went on from there.”
Scoring for Electrical Shop was Jamie Phillip-Freeman, Josh Kearney, Amy Vanderklay and Aaron Rich with two.
“The key to our success was team work; everyone played well, played their positions,” said Rich. “I’m proud of all of them.”
When the teams met the previous evening, the match resulted in a 2-2 tie.
“We had four games Saturday morning, so we were pretty tired to get to the finals,” said Soccer Shoppe coach Derric Lewis. “I think everyone was fatigued. With the younger kids, when they play that much they get exhausted. They get down a couple goals and he emotions start rolling.”
Selectricity Productions took the bronze in a 3-1 win over the Whitehorse Elks with goals from Ben Shier, Josh West and Ben Kishchuk.
In the search of U-7 supremacy, the Willow Printers, who went undefeated through the tournament, blanked Energy North 7-0 in the final. (Goal scorers were not available at press time.)
“The Willow team is a really strong team with some really good players,” said Energy North coach Michelle Trimble. “We were proud - I was proud of my team - for going on and getting silver. They did us proud.”
For the bronze, Locksmith Services took a 3-1 win over fourth place Boston Pizza. Scoring for Locksmith was Max Zimmermann with two and Trina Pauls, scoring her first goal of the season.
“It was a great tourney with Locksmith peaking at the right time,” said Locksmith coach Dennis Zimmermann. “Despite being young with a small bench, they persevered.”
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com