Morning Star Staff
Vernon United melted away the competition at the U13 Girls Rep Soccer Ice Breaker season opening tournament in Lake Country.
United, coached by Brett Bandy, James Lockwood and Genevieve Nice, went undefeated, outscoring their opponents 13-5 and capping things with a 3-0 win over Kelowna United for gold.
“The success was due to the girls playing as a team, with determination and 100 per cent effort from start to finish every match,” said Bandy.
United opened with a 3-2 win over Kelowna, defeated the Kamloops Blaze 2-1 and grounded the Nelson Selects 5-2.
“It’s not possible to pick an MVP for the tournament because in each match there were four or five players who played outstanding, six different girls scored goals, and every player did their job,” said Bandy.
Ann Cherkowski, Ava Mclennan, Emma Lockwood and Alexis Gauvin-Nice controlled the midfield along with adding an offensive threat. Ashley Budgen, Keaira Korberg, Rane Smith and Tianna Colvin were dominant at the back line.
Lanaya Bandy kept opponents on their heels as a striker, finishing with both feet.
Vernon United U14 Boys opened their season finishing fourth in the Ice Breaker.
United opened Friday morning with a 2-0 win over Kelowna United Predators. Lee Christensen opened the scoring at 20 minutes on a play set up by Zack Laranjo. Oliver Meyer and Cole Johnson worked the possession game taught in winter training.
Game MVP Chris MacIntosh went top cheddar with a curling free kick in the second half. Jarrod Jameson took the shutout.
Vernon claimed its second victory Friday afternoon with a 4-1 result over the Kelowna Warriors.
Shaun Boucher sent the first wake-up call at 12 minutes with a blistering knee deflection off a corner feed from Johnson.
Laranjo targeted a confident pass to Johnson who deftly found the back of the net in the second half. Kelowna answered quickly with a high lob just out of Jameson’s reach. Vernon pulled away in the second half with Jacob Baycroft setting up Noah Podolski to feed MacIntosh who found the slot. Johnson finessed the final goal of the game allowing Baycroft to one-time the ball home. MVP honours were earned by stellar midfielder Ty Ogasawara.
The Surrey IFC Kings stormed Vernon 5-1 Saturday morning, Will Denny fed Podolski for a header goal. Striker Michael Lapp earned MVP.
Relegated to the bronze medal match early Sunday, United fell 2-1 to the Calgary SWU Mighty Reds. MVP went to defender Jaidyn Gordon-Mason for his goal off a corner set up by Podolski and Christensen.
Coach Rick Ogasawara was happy with the result.
