On what was their 10th corner kick attempt of the match, Murraya Dental finally hit paydirt.
The dental crew captured the U13 title in a 1-0 win over Impact Well Drilling at the Yukon Soccer Association’s Full Field Championships, which featured three division finals on Sunday at F.H. Collins Secondary.
“You couldn’t say it could have been tighter than that,” said Murraya coach Derek Hyde. “I think our midfielders blocked everything they were throwing at them. They didn’t even get to our defence too often.”
The Murraya team, who went undefeated in the championships with one tie in the round-robin, kept the play in the Impact end for almost the entire match, but just couldn’t beat Impact goalkeeper Sam Finton.
Finally, at Minute 19 in the second half, Murraya’s Malorie Hanson scored on a well-placed corner kick from teammate Gabe Nadon, booting it in out of mid-air.
Murraya had a total of 10 corner kicks, eight more than Impact, whose two came after the only goal of the game.
“We have a very strong, solid defence,” said Impact coach Derek Parker. “Certainly we had something up front, but we knew we were in it tough and we set up a strong defensive squad. We kept (the score) down and almost squeaked through.
“Our strategy was to wear down their strikers and at the right time try to surge on. We did that and almost got lucky there.
“I was really proud of these guys, how they played together as a team.”
Taking bronze in the U13 division was Yukon Pump, blanking Underhill Geomatics 7-0. Finding the back of Underhill’s net were Ryan Hindson with three and Logan Morris with two. Rory Sinclair-Eckart and Ale Roberts also scored.
“It’s a long weekend with many games and it was so hot the first two days,” said Hyde. “But they did so great. I can’t believe how good they were.”
Wintemute holds on for U15 title
The U15 final was also decided in a one-goal match.
Wintemute Electric won the title with a 2-1 victory over Henry Gulch Exploration.
“I think it was a wonderful game, it was a great tournament, the teams have been really well matched,” said Wintemute coach Eric Schroff. “The scoreboard showed that - there have been a number of close games. Even though there are only four teams in the U15 group, there were competitive games right through the weekend. So it was great.
[image2]
“Our team didn’t have a substitute all weekend and played a couple games with eight players and it worked. The team pulled together all the time. It was wonderful.”
The often-shorthanded Wintemute went undefeated in the tournament with one tie in the round-robin.
Giving the team a 2-0 lead in the final were Sam Lee and Pierre Lefebvre, the latter scoring on a penalty shot from a tripping call.
Scoring for Gulch was Graydon McDonnell, out-manoeuvring Wintemute goalie Timber Stinson-Schroff in the goal box and knocking it in the open net.
“You couldn’t ask for the team to play any better,” said Gulch coach Kevin McDonnell. “Everybody just picked it up and were playing really well - we just couldn’t put it away.
“Throughout the league we always had a challenge with these guys, but this one was a real close one. It was a fun game to watch.”
In the battle for bronze, Eagle Construction squeaked out a 3-2 win over Dandelion Dental. Scoring for Eagle were Luka van Randen, Allan Marks and Katherine Fortune. Putting the ball in the net for Dandelion were Callum Wood-Ryan and Chris Torgerson.
All Terrane tops U12 division
After experiencing a rocky regular season, All Terrane Mineral Exploration never lost their positive attitudes, according to a coach of the team.
Their dedication led to the team winning the U12 division with a 3-1 win over Access Consulting in Sunday’s final.
“They are a fantastic team,” said All Terrane co-coach Paula Stoker. “They always come to the games happy and ready to play. They have lots of skill and they came a long way.
“We actually didn’t win a lot of games through the season, so they’ve just been getting better and better as they go.
“One nice thing is everyone comes to every game; we haven’t been short.”
All Terrane’s Cruz Goodman had two goals in the final, the first coming off a penalty shot.
Teammate Gary Schulze then sealed the deal with about five minutes left on a high shot that brushed off the fingers of the Access goalkeeper.
Scoring Access’ goal was Jewel Davies.
“They played positions really well with really strong defence,” said All Terrane co-coach Ron Bramadat.
“Cruz is always there for us,” he added. “He’s always our big goal-scorer. He can do that because he’s got the support of the whole team behind him.”
Team Eagle flew to bronze with a 2-1 win over visiting Dawson City. Scoring for the Eagles were Matthias Hoenisch and Joe Stokes. For Dawson it was Ethan Gaw.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com