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Local soccer shines at provincials, taking three medals

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Sherwood Park’s soccer prowess was put to the test during the Tier 4 Provincials.

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Four of the three local Sherwood Park District Soccer Association (SPDSA) teams secured a medal finish at provincials, which were hosted in Cold Lake in early July.

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After two big wins over Cold Lake (3-1) and Camrose (3-0), Sherwood Park’s Rudyk Girls U17 tied 0-0 against Bonnyville, but due to a goal differential, they finished with a silver.

“We were plus-five in goal differential and Bonnyville was plus-seven, and we both had identical records, so had we scored one goal in the final, we would have won gold,” explained co-coach Kelly Rudyk. “We had so many chances and we were doing so well. We started to dominate near the end, but Bonnyville held on for the tie.”

“We stressed that we wanted that game to be the most fun game that we had ever played, regardless of the results, maybe there was a bit of disappointed that we didn’t take gold, but everyone was super thrilled with their performance,” he added.

The Rudyk U17 Girls in action during provincials. Photo supplied
The Rudyk U17 Girls in action during provincials. Photo supplied

Both sides of the field were clicking for the U17s.

“Letting in only one goal the whole tournament, our defence was solid. We really did very well on the offensive side of the ball as well. Especially in that last game, both teams were really equally matched and were really strong defensively… Had we maybe converted some of our chances in early games, we probably could have taken gold.”

Notably, four U15 players joined the U17 team at provincials.

“The way that everyone gelled together with some new players was just amazing,” Rudyk added.

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Heading into provincials, the U17s were fairly consistent on the field with a 12-3 record and finished within the top third of the standings for the Edmonton Minor Sports Association.

Sherwood Park’s Pietraszko U13 Girls took silver at provincials in Cold Lake in early July. Photo supplied
Sherwood Park’s Pietraszko U13 Girls took silver at provincials in Cold Lake in early July. Photo supplied

Sherwood Park’s Pietraszko Girls U13 also took silver after dropping 4-0 to Stettler FC in the finals. But the score sheet didn’t tell the full story.

The score was somewhat flattering for the other team. It probably should have ended up being 2-0 or 3-0 at worst,” explained Bart Krawczynski, one of the assistant coaches with the U13 team.

“One of the goals was our team kicking the ball out and it bounced back into our net after rebounding off one of Stettler’s players. We played well in the first half and matched the other undefeated team in the tournament well who scored a record 14 goals in the round robin portion. Stettler got up 1-0 just before half time but we were doing good at that point. The 2nd half was tougher but mostly because many of our players became injured to the point that the last 15 minutes we had no subs,” he recapped. “To add to that, we went into the tournament undermanned or under-girled in this case. All the teams had six to seven substitutes, including Stettler. We only had three substitutes for the entire tournament. Two substitutes were from other Sherwood Park teams and one substitute was from a U11 girls’ team. This was allowed under Alberta Soccer rules, but it was not ideal at all going into a best-on-best tournament.”

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“Still, the girls played great and overcame the less than full squad to play cohesively to get to the finals. The coaching staff, parents and family are extremely proud of our group and how they represented Sherwood Park,” Krawczynski underlined.

Sherwood Park’s Lott U13 Boys took bronze at provincials. Photo supplied
Sherwood Park’s Lott U13 Boys took bronze at provincials. Photo supplied

Sherwood Park’s Lott Boys U13 also walked away with a medal, taking bronze. During provincials, the U13s settled for a 4-4 tie against Cold Lake, had a 3-2 win over Morinville, had a 2-2 tie against Lacombe, and finished with a 1-0 win over Battle River in the bronze medal match.

“Although we walked away with a bronze medal, we accomplished something quite remarkable throughout the season,” stated coach Gregg Lott.

“Successes on the field were fluid passing between teammates after a grueling schedule of matches and temps of around 28 degrees Celsius. The kids were obviously tired, but they were gritty in defense and held on to the 1-0 win, which was greeted by jubilant applause and cheers from the traveling parents and fans,” he added.

The team finished the regular season with a 16-0-1 record.

“We managed to emulate what the Arsenal team of the English Premier League did in the 2003-2004 season, in which they managed to play the whole of the season and remain undefeated. That earned them the the title of ‘The Invisibles’,” Lott said.

“With all the recent success of the local teams, it’s an indication that the soccer scene here in Sherwood Park is getting stronger and better and able to compete at a higher level. Thanks, in part, to the hard work and dedication of some truly awesome volunteers and the unwavering support of the community and the SPDSA,” he added.

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Sherwood Park’s Russell Girls U15 placed fourth after losing to Bonnyville 4-1 in the bronze medal match but were not deterred by missing the podium. For the regular season, the team was solid with zero loses.

“We went undefeated all season in our league, which doesn’t happen very often. We also got gold at the Sherwood Park Classic tournament and silver at a tournament in Camrose. Seeing those same teams that we had played and beaten previously at provincials, it was close but it came down to the very last game to get either a bronze medal or last place, and unfortunately we had a bit of a rivalry with Bonnyville and they beat us, but it was all good with great sportsmanship and the girls had a hard fought match.”

“Playing in Tier 4, we went into the regular season with no expectations, but probably once we got half-way through the season and we won that gold at the Sherwood Park tournament, the girls did not want to break their streak, so we just kept going. It meant a lot to them. Even in the last game, when the girls were down by two, they came back in the last 10 minutes of the game to tie it, which protected their undefeated streak, and they were pretty excited.”

lmorey@postmedia.com

twitter.com/LindsayDMorey

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