The Prince Rupert 7-on-7 coed soccer league brought its second season to a successful close with a year-end tournament on Aug. 25 and 26.
Four teams battled it out for bragging rights and the championship trophy with the light blue team beating the orange team 9-5 in the finals.
READ MORE: Summer soccer kicks off in Prince Rupert
“It was great to win today,” said Aiden Murphy-Morven, who was one of five light blue scorers in the game. “We’ve always had consistent players and I think we showed up today and played well.”
The light blue team started the game a goal down due to the fact that they did not play any female players for the game, but were able to even the score and take and early 2-1 lead.
The two team traded goals throughout the half and eventually went into the half tied 3-3.
Murphy-Morven said the blue team was confident that they would be able to gain control of the match going into the second half.
“Cody [one of the team’s captains] just gathered everyone together and said we had good passing, and if we just kept doing that we’ll win it,” he said.
The orange team took command of the game, aggressively pursuing and winning the ball in the midfield and generating scoring chances on counter-attack runs. They scored six second-half goals and limited the light blue team’s scoring opportunities to pull away convincingly.
The team’s top scorers were Murphy-Morven (2), Cody Brown (2), Chad Stewart (2), Aman Gill (2) and Adrien True (1). Aman Gill was voted man of the match by his teammates.
In the tournaments third-place game, the dark blue team beat the white team 4-3.
League organizer Kendall Wing said the league’s second season was a success overall despite consistency issues from some of its teams. He said there were 136 players registered this year, down only four from last year’s total, which shows there is still enthusiasm for the games and format.
READ MORE: MVP of the Week – Kendall Wing has fever pitch
“The people who show up are enjoying it,” he said.
When asked about the prospects of the league for next season, Wing said he was confident it would continue to be a success.
“For sure, we’re going to make this a yearly thing,” he said. “And we’re hoping that we’ll get more players too.”
matthew.allen@thenorthernview.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
