Under 18 boys soccer team found a silver lining as they won second place at the Saskatoon Eastside tournament held June 17-19. Despite losing center back Ben Koroluk to injury in the first half of their first game versus Brandon, and surviving with a very short bench, the boys came through with a tremendous effort to capture the silver.
Yorkton opened the tournament with a 1 to nil loss to Brandon. This was a fast paced, well-played game by both sides. The score remained locked at zeroes until late in the game, star midfielder Jionel Yimes scored from a lovely wall pass to seal the deal for Brandon. Yorkton then faced Flin Flon and came away with a 9 – 0 win. Nick Fetsch (picked up from the Under 16 team) scored 5 goals and singles were added by Nathan Cochrane, Christian Smith, Jaret Porte and Kazuki Kaneko. In their third round robin game, Yorkton defeated Swift Current 2 – 1 to advance to the semi Final. Goal scorers were Ben Fetsch and Christian Smith.
In the semi Final, Yorkton once again met up with Swift Current and this time defeated them 3 - 1. Nick Fetsch recorded the hat trick. Nathan Cochrane, Zack Shearer and Michael Dobrowolski all combing for some stellar goal keeping.
The Final was played against a very talented Brandon squad who produced excellent ball movement. The Yorkton Defenders (Derek Campbell, Austin Jasan and Nathan Cochrane) however gave them few scoring opportunities. In this Final, Central mid fielders Ben Fetsch, Austin Thomas and Jaret Porte has stellar games, creating offensive chances and coming back hard on defense to deny Brandon quality chances. At the 10th minute mark of the first half it appeared that Yorkton took the lead on a bar down ‘bullet’ off the left foot of Nick Fetsch. The referee however did not award the goal and without video replay, there was no way to prove that the goal was a goal. The game went on scoreless until a wonderful strike from 35 yards to the top corner of the net produced the winning goal for Brandon. Yorkton made in close, producing some great scoring chances. Michael Dobrowolski hit a post in the last few minutes but the team could not produce the tying goal. This game was a great game and in the words of the official who officiated, “This was definitely the highlight game of the tournament! Well played by both teams.”
Coaches Mike Jakubiec and Jeanne Fetsch were pleased with the effort of the team and grateful that former Yorkton United player Anthony Fetsch was able to assist them with coaching duties as they both had responsibilities coaching their regular Under 12 teams. The team played well ‘as a team’ all weekend. In the words of soccer great Pele, “I am constantly being asked about individuals. The only way to win is as a team. Football is not about one or two or three star players.”
The Under 18 boys will now prepare for provincials in Lloydminster July 1 – 3
