With the snow finally gone and the grass growing, it was officially time to kick off footy season as the Yorkton United Football Club U-12's got the ball rolling on their Regina Soccer Association season with two fixtures in the Queen City. The Yorkton boys had a respectable start to the season on Sunday, May 12 as they met up with two formidable foes on Regina's Leibel Field. On Mother's Day the YUFC youth club made their mothers proud, getting four of the possible six points up for grabs on Sunday against the Queen City United and the AC Pumas.
The first match-up took place at 11:00 a.m. against the QC United. Jordin Rusnak would start the U-12 season off with a bang, scoring the first goal of the season to make it 1-nil to the away side. At the beginning of the second half, Rusnak once again showed his scoring touch, putting home his second goal to give himself a brace and put the YUFC up 2-nil over the hosts. QC United would wake up after Rusnak's double, scoring two goals in the second half as the YUFC would need to regroup and settle for a hard fought draw to open up their season, with an evening game still on the schedule.
Yorkton played again at 5:00 p.m. this time against Regina's AC Pumas. Yorkton caught its stride in this back and forth match that saw both teams put in an inspired effort with tons of hard work and hustle on display. The Pumas opened up the scoring early on, but then Jordin Rusnak continued his strong play as he scored twice for another delightful double to put Yorkton in front. The two teams would trade goals as the scoreboard notched up back and forth to 4-4 with Yorkton goals by Nick Fetsch and Matthew Cochrane. With three minutes left, Nolan Maier scored the game winner. Maier's winner at the death would put the cherry on top for the U-12's who fought hard at the end of a day that saw the young footballers play two matches in one day. Fatigue did not appear to be an issue as the YUFC gave pushback at the end of their second game in getting a late goal, showing some fight out of the kids.
Coach Mike Jakubiec was pleased with his team today, especially in the second match when they all played very well. Jakubiec mentioned that no matter the final scores, Jakubiec felt that the work the boys did on the field was a winning effort.
The Yorkton United FC Chelsea U-12 Boys Div 1 are playing in the Regina Soccer Association League's top division this spring. They've got 14 regular season match-ups against teams from Regina and Moose Jaw that will give the players ample amounts of on-pitch action that will aid their development as players. In addition to the season fixtures extra playoff games will be played that lead to the RSA Cup Tournament in the middle of July as the RSA teams battle for both a league trophy and a league cup in most age divisions just like most leagues. They are also off to a Winnipeg tournament May 31 to June 2.
Yorkton will play host to several regular league games at the Parkland Mall Field on the following dates and times:
May 25 (12:30 and 5:30), June 15 (11:00 and 4:00), June 23 (11:00 and 4:00).
