Vernon Tolko United fell 4-0 to the Port Moody Selects in Monday’s U13 Boys soccer final of the Slurpee Cup in Kamloops.
United topped their pool by bouncing the Kamloops Blaze White 3-0 and doubling Calgary’s West Hills Titans 4-2 before losing 4-3 to the Selects in the crossover playoff. Justin Ruscheinsky and Jonathan Fraser-Monroe shared keeper duties the entire weekend.
Jonah Strachan sent a great pass up to Owen Challen who beat the Kamloops goalie in the early minutes. Justin Arsenault set up Cash Anderson for the 2-0 goal, while Alexander Jones buried a high free kick for extra insurance. Midfielder Tate Garrod and defender Cam Acob had stellar showings.
Alexander Kazimer and Levi Koroll battled hard in the midfield against Calgary. Zach Loland scored on a beauty pass from Challen to put Vernon on the sheet first.
Anderson assisted on Challen’s goal and then finished a pass from Loland shortly after. Anderson converted a shot from Marcus Petersen for the final tally.
In the crossover tilt, Landon Janke headed in a rebound for Vernon’s first goal. He then followed up with another goal on a strong shot from in tight. Jones put a long, high kick over the keeper’s head. Kolby Thorpe and Liam Collins ignited some great second-half pushes.
United U14 Boys bagged the bronze medal with a 3-2 victory over Kelowna United.
Vernon, who hasn’t defeated Kelowna in league play this season, went ahead at six minutes when Ashton Kamaryk converted.
Kelowna equalized just before the half. Quinn Soon was taken down in the box and awarded a penalty kick which he buried, giving Vernon back the lead. Minutes later, Kelowna levelled the score on a PK.
Vernon recorded the play of the game in the late going with Reinhardt sending a free kick to the far post and Hakan Akkurt registering a beautiful header. Player of the Game was Vernon keeper Gage Stoll.
Vernon lost 4-0 to Kamloops in their opener with midfielder Ethan Greenan taking MVP and then edged Prince George 2-1 with Greenan connecting on a free kick and Kamaryk getting the winner on a sweet solo dash. Fullback Mark Hesketh was Man of the Match.
Kamaryk notched the first, assisted by Owen Davis, as Vernon stopped Terrace 2-0. Greenan added insurance with just seconds left, assisted by Akkurt. Defender Chris Reinhardt was MVP.
United VUZ U12 Boys went 0-3-1 at the same tournament, falling 5-1 to Kamloops in their first game Saturday.
Jentenzen Peterson, assisted by Hunter Schindel and Jonas McMeeking-Walsh, combined for the Tolko goal. It was end-to-end action, with strong defensive play by James Richardson and Chase Cederholm until Kamloops went ahead with six minutes left in the half.
United tied the Comox Valley Strikers 2-2 Sunday morning with Peterson making it 1-1, unassisted, with 30 seconds left in the half. Comox counted the go-ahead goal less than two minutes into the second half.
Strong offensive play from Henry Routley and Rowan Calder kept United in the game until Peterson and Calder assisted Jonas McMeeking-Walsh on the equalizer with less than four minutes to play.
Mckenzie United of Calgary scored four goals in the first half in a 6-1 win over Vernon.
There were plenty of scoring opportunities from Ethan Anderson and Peterson, but Mckenzie’s keeper was brilliant. Blake Beaton and Richardson were bold defensively. Josh Donison clicked on a penalty kick.
South West United of Calgary parlayed a late goal into a 3-2 win over Vernon.
Rowan Calder netted United’s first goal at 20 minutes, with assists from Donison and Peterson. Dillon Rinkel and Beaton shared the netminding and were both excellent.
Cedarholm delivered a beautiful sideline throw-in to assist Anderson with Vernon’s second goal to tie things up.
The Vernon United Tolko Strikers finished 2-2 in the U12 Girls soccer division at the Slurpee Cup.
The Strikers started with a heartbreaking 3-2 Saturday loss to Kelowna Lightning.
Kelowna took the lead at 25 minutes before Kristen Francks responded 10 minutes later on a feed by Anna Hirschkorn.
The Bolts took the lead minutes later, but Hirschkorn once again set up Francks who skillfully beat the Kelowna keeper to the left side. Kelowna counted the winner with only two minutes left. Hirschkorn was the Game MVP while Sadie Christensen and Chelsea Sladen hustled in the midfield.
Francks tallied four goals for MVP Sunday morning as the Strikers disposed of Prince George 7-0.
Amy Curtis, Kirsten Brown and Makenna Doyle each added singles. Caryss Hill, Doyle, Jessica Bond, Hirschkorn, Francks and Cassidy Bocking all added assists.
The Strikers fell 5-1 to Kelowna SWAT in the afternoon with game MVP Bocking getting the Vernon goal late in the second half.
Vernon beat Comox Valley #2 1-0 in Monday morning action with game MVP Clara Meyer converting top shelf at seven minutes with Brown assisting. Amiee Skinner was dominant all weekend in the middle of the park, while Jesse Mitchell was stellar on defence and in goal.
