Vernon United Blue swept a pair of U11 Boys soccer games Sunday in the Rutland Dome, stopping Revelstoke Avalanche and grounding Kamloops Blaze 3-1.
Vernon opened the scoring versus Revy with a sweet series of passes from defender Stephen Taylor to midfielder Cale Fraser out to winger Jake McNaughton and finally to Jonah Petrone for the tap in.
Dawson Bond made it 2-0 with assists going to Keegan Mark and Emmett Out. Austin Goodrich was hungry for a goal and made a stellar sliding attempt on net which the Revy keeper denied. Austin Lewis added one more insurance tally with a blast from outside.
Zoel Willett kept applying pressure up front, while Tyler McInnis, Cole Budgen, Anderson Bicknell and Taylor were marvellous in the midfield and defensive zone helping Keaton Lamoureux earn a well deserved shutout.
In Game 2, Kamloops took an early lead before United responded when Mark’s shot rebounded off the keeper and Budgen nicely finished.
Anderson, Taylor and Out controlled the defensive end, while Lamoureux helped manage the field confidently from his keeper position.
Goodrich launched a gorgeous free kick into the top corner of the net just before the half giving Vernon the 2-1 lead.
Fraser and Petrone started off the second half with a great play moving the ball up the pitch but failing to convert. Bond showed great ball control with both his feet and his headers as he dangled through the defence and released a blistering strike that just sailed high.
McInnis and Budgen hustled hard on defence and also demonstrated great accuracy and control of the ball. Following a nice corner from Bicknell, Willett and McNaughton, Lewis and Bicknell kept the ball in the danger zone and McNaughton connected to complete the scoring.
