Yorkton United Football Club's U-16 girls club heads into the 2012 Provincial Championships from July 20-22 with a very impressive stat to back up their title hopes. The YUFC girls have a staggering twenty-six game unbeaten streak going into the last indoor season, making the Yorkton girls the clear favorites heading into provincials in Regina.
The U-16's travelled to three tournaments this summer in preparation for provincials, first taking home the Challenge Cup in Regina. The YUFC girls conceded just one goal in the tournament, winning the four games on the way to the championship by a combined score of 13-1. The YUFC's only real threat to their unbeaten streak came against the AC Tigres who kept within striking distance before Morgan Shymanski broke the deadlock and sent YUFC to the final undefeated. Rita Fetsch and Bryce Sherring lead the scoring for the tournament with five goals apiece.
Next the YUFC girls went to the Saskatoon Eastside Grevers tournament and despite not losing a game had to settle for a bronze medal performance after two 2-2 draws with Saskatoon Hollandia and Regina's RE United. Yorkton thrashed Humboldt 7-nil in the bronze medal match ending the weekend on a high note. Rita Fetsch scored eleven goals in the tournament while the YUFC squad could not earn the necessary three points in two of their games, keeping their unbeaten streak alive, but sending them home with a disappointing bronze medal in a tournament they could have potentially won had a few more bounces went their way.
YUFC's last pre-provincial action was at SummerFest in Regina where they continued to show their dominance. A 7-nil win over Regina ACFC and a 10-nil win over Regina UCT highlighted round robin play before a 4-nil win over Swift Current in the final gave the girls their second trophy of the season. Keeper Edie Schramm notched three clean sheets in the tournament giving her six appearances in which she shutout her opponents. Rita Fetsch once again led the tournament with thirteen goals for her side, while Bryce Sherring had four and Morgan Shymanski had three goals respectively to lead the potent YUFC attack.
The United girls head to provincials this weekend as arguably the best team in Saskatchewan at their level and should be expected to make a run at a provincial title, if not win and continue their unbeaten streak into another season. With twenty-six straight games without suffering a defeat it is almost a near guarantee that YUFC will likely see their way into the final, but with two draws to their name there are signs that they can be beaten. Regina's RE United and Saskatoon's Hollandia both will have the belief that they were one bounce away from ending Yorkton's unbeaten streak and that they too are favorites for the provincial crown. Regardless of this weekend's result the U-16 girls unbeaten streak is a rare and impressive feat that is often unseen and should give the young girls on the team a great deal of pride. However with results like that, nothing short of a championship will be the expectation and this weekend will provide the conclusion to a memorable season.
