The Yorkton United had high hopes for all club teams entered in the QC United Tournament held in Regina June 17-19. Unfortunately, heavy rains forced the closure of grass field in Regina. Only the new Leibel Field was available. Tournament organizers were able to proceed with the U12 age group, allowing both the United U12 girls Shock and U12 Bulldogs boys' team to compete in Division II play.
In girls' play, the Shock faced three Regina teams in round-robin play; this was their first attempt at competitive soccer. Friday night saw the Shock get off to a quick 1-0 start on a Taryn Kustra goal against the REU Ravens. Then, inexperience in competitive play began to show in the Shock as the Ravens went on to win by a score of 4-1. On Saturday morning, they faced the ACFC Tigres. While most of the match ended up being played on the Shock side of the pitch, a goal in the first half by Allison Berge would stand to be the winner in a 1-0 shutout victory. Goalie Caitlyn Berge turned aside plenty in the Shock net, including a direct free kick and the ensuing rebound. Improvements in team play were made as all players contributed to the shutout with fairly decent defensive play. Saturday night's game against the QC United started with a QC goal, however Berge got it back to tie the game.
In the second half, three goals from QC United sealed the victory. That loss, combined with a Weyburn win, eliminated the Shock from the Sunday finals match. Leah Murphy, head coach, said she was pleased with the girls' ability to adapt to the game situation and the efforts from all of the players.
In Division II boys' play, the U12 Bulldogs started out with a 3-2 win over Weyburn on goals from Christian Smith, Matthew Mandziuk and Nathan Cochrane. On Saturday morning, they continued their winning ways with a 2-0 win over the ACFC Pumas. Mandziuk and Zach McGriskin scored for the locals, while Cochrane got the shutout in net. Because of scheduling, Yorkton's next game was early Sunday morning against QC United. In a tight game, the victor was decided on an own goal from an Austin Thomas corner kick in the last minute of play for the Yorkton win.
Even with a 3-0 win, the playoffs hung in the balance depending on the result of a following game.
The result of that game, a Weyburn win, eliminated UCT and sent the Bulldogs to the final against Weyburn.
