The Yorkton United U14 Core Real Estate Fury boys soccer team have been snake-bitten this indoor soccer season.
The team attended three tournaments this winter and although performed very well did not make an appearance in any gold medal match. The team consisted of a 17 member squad of dedicated soccer players.
For the tournaments the team dressed 12 players and five players sat out so at each tournament the team had a very different look. "It was quite a different situation this year with so many players," remarked coach Chad Grodzinski.
"The kids took turns sitting out each tournament but even with a different line-up at each tournament we had a strong squad capable of winning gold. Unfortunately, at each tournament there was that one game that we let slip and finished our weekend early."
The first tournament for the Fury was the Q.C. Breakaway Tournament where the team had an impressive round robin going 3-0 with 13 goals for and only one against.
The team ended up in the semi-final where they played to a 0-0 draw against R.E.U. Luta and then lost in the overtime shootout.
The second tournament for the U14 boys was the RAZZ tournament where the team lost the opening game 3-2 versus F.C. Northwest from Winnipeg.
The boys then went undefeated but the loss in the first game was enough to place them second in their pool and out of the final.
"It was a hard fought first game. Both teams had their chances but Winnipeg was a very talented squad and came out on top and eventually took gold in the tournament," adds Grodzinski.
The last regular tournament of the year was the A.C. Winterfest tournament. To get first in this tournament was a heavy task as there were sixteen teams in the U14 division.
The Fury managed wins versus R.E.U. Inferno and P.A. Celtic but couldn't find the net versus the U.C.T. Lightning and netted a couple of luck goals to hand the United boys a 2-0 loss an put them out of the tournament.
It was then on to provincials for the Yorkton United U14 Core Real Estate Fury and the last chance to prove they are one of the top teams in the province. The Yorkton United club had already left there mark this winter by impressive results with a bunch of gold medals to show for it. The Fury wanted to join those ranks.
The U14 Fury started off the tournament with a 3-1 win versus SUSC Titans with goals by Ryan Nussbaumer and Ben Fetsch(2).
Next, the Fury faced a very strong Humboldt Hurricanes team and after falling behind by one goal Derek Campbell netted 2 in a row to steal a 2-1 victory for the Fury. This was a very exciting game with Humboldt pouring it on but Yorkton played strong defensively to hold on to the win. On Saturday the Fury faced Q.C. United 99's and took an early 2-0 lead but let the lead and game slip away late in the second half and lost 3-2.
Matthew Mandziuk and Campbell scored for Yorkton.
It was do or die as they faced the top ranked team from Regina the UCT Lightning.
The Y.U.F.C. Fury managed to hold on for a 1-0 victory and avenge their unlucky loss to U.C.T. At the Winterfest tournament, Ben Fetsch had the single.
After round robin play, the team was tied with Humboldt.
The U14 Fury would advance to the finals versus Holandia Gremio.
Holandia had been walking through their competition with ease but that stopped here.
Against a determined Yorkton squad that ended up playing their best game of the tournament.
Campbell placed a pass perfectly across the field and Ryan Nussbaumer finished it off by putting the ball in the back of the net. After that the Fury were able to shut down Holandia and came away with 1-0 win and the provincial title.
This gold medal was long over due for the boys and it's even better that it was provincial gold!
