A soccer tournament happened in Vegas, but a second place finish didn’t stay in Vegas.
Yukon FC, a team made up of players from the Whitehorse co-ed league, placed second in the Soccer Resort Holiday Classic on Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“It was a fun tournament. It was an interesting schedule with 30 minutes straight time, with no halftimes, just a half hour of straight play,” said Yukon FC captain Ammon Hoefs. “It took a couple games to get used to.
“In the future, it would be good to get more teams to go down.”
The Yukon squad played six matches in two days, going 3-2-1 for silver in the co-ed B division of the tournament.
Yukon advanced through the semifinal with a 2-1 win over Nevada’s Mecca Lecca, who tied Yukon during the round-robin. Kealy Sweet scored the game-winner.
The Yukon FC then lost 3-1 in the final against Nevada’s Man & Ginas, the only team to defeat Yukon at the tournament, also winning the the teams’ round-robin match.
Scoring for Yukon in the final was Terry Edwards, finding the top-right corner from mid-field as he was being pulled down by a Man & Ginas player.
Man & Ginas scored two goals in the final five minutes for the win.
“It was a little disappointing but it was still a fun tournament,” said Hoefs, who produced 10 goals in the tournament to lead his team in scoring.
As the only team in the tournament not from Nevada, Yukon FC won the Team Who Travelled the Greatest Distance to Play award.
Also playing for Yukon FC were Sylvain Laferriere, Phil Jackson, Bruno Bourdache, Cathy MacDonald, Emily Younker, Rachel Pattimore and goalkeeper Ivo Amaral.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com