Three Vernon girls teams have qualified for the Provincial B Cup Rep Soccer Championships, July 4-7, in North Vancouver.
United Under 13, 14 and 15 sides all booked a seat to provincials by winning the Thompson Okanagan league playdowns last weekend at McArthur Island Sports Centre in Kamloops.
Brett Bandy’s U15 crew, which went 7-0-1 in the regular season, grounded the Penticton Pinnacles 6-1 Sunday after blanking the Kamloops Blaze 1-0 Saturday.
Vernon went to work immediately versus the Pinnacles with Kate Healy leaving a vapor trail down the wing and placing a gorgeous cross for Emilee Kronbauer, who tapped it in from the door step.
Kronbauer scored just before the half, converting a rebound after a scorching shot by Maddy Laranjo.
Early in the second half, Healy made her way to the net with authority to undress the defence and pick the short-side corner from outside the six-yard box.
Hanna Akkurt had time to make a tuna sandwich before beating the keeper high from outside the 16-yard box for the fourth goal.
Laranjo nodded in an effortless kick from Alexa Tymkiw, then calmly hammered one in from the parking lot to complete the scoring.
In Saturday’s opener, Vernon pinned the Blaze and held them to zero shots while enjoying some quality chances in a scoreless half.
Vernon got on the board early in the second half after Reyhanna Akkurt dug the ball from the corner and fed a well-marked Laranjo, who buried the winner.
United controlled the rest of the game, showering the Kamloops keeper with shots.
“They’re really playing phenomenal and a lot of credit has to go to Dave (Broadhurst) and Claire (Paterson) who coach five or six of the girls in the academy,” said Bandy.
“Carli (Tingstad) has also helped me a lot. She is such a strong technical coach. It’s a unique team. There is lots of chemistry and the girls finished third in provincials last year and are determined to win it this year.”
The U14 girls shut down Penticton 1-0 Sunday after bouncing the Blaze 3-0 the day before.
Ashley Glinsbockel supplied the late goal and Marina Dempsey registered the shutout in the final.
“The girls played an awesome technical game,” said head coach Michelle Hughes. “They were stringing together five-, seven-pass sequences and really outplayed Penticton. We had many chances but failed to put it in the net until about the last three minutes of play. It was truly a team effort with everyone contributing and doing their job.”
Jaime Grages, Cayleigh Graham and Ashley Glinsbockel scored against Kamloops with Dempsey earning the clean sheet.
“It was a good playoff opening game for the girls,” said Hughes. “Everyone worked hard and we achieved the result we were looking for.”
Vernon topped the regular season at 9-1-2.
The U13s, coached by Al Gee, Rick Latta and Ley Christensen, clipped Kelowna United 1-0 in Sunday’s final.
Kali Hamilton-Gee produced the Vernon goal and Shauna Bradley posted the shutout. Hamilton-Gee scored about 15 minutes into the second half.
Kelowna definitely looked the stronger side in the first half and beginning of the second, but Vernon gained control after Hamilton-Gee’s goal and finished strong.
“Maja Splawinski and Alex Lockwood took over the midfield,” said coach Gee. “We got a big save in the first half by Shauna to keep us in it.”
In their opener, Vernon started slow before rolling over Penticton 4-0.
Mason Christensen, Lydia Lavigne, Splawinski and Sydney Embleton handled the United offence. Vernon was 4-0-2 in league play.
The U16 girls, coached by John Hughes, lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to the Pinnacles Saturday.
Penticton connected on a penalty kick in a game Vernon owned the majority of play but couldn’t finish. United only lost once in league play.
In U16 boys play, Vernon fell 3-0 to Kelowna in Sunday’s final after clipping Kamloops 2-1 Saturday.
Kamloops counted first and then Zac Kronbauer levelled the score by overpowering Kelowna’s back line. Michael Williamson scored the winner on a beautiful volley from the top of the box. The Vernon defence shut down everything Kamloops tried.
United U13 boys lost 3-1 to Kelowna in Saturday playoff action.
Vernon held the edge in play and enjoyed numerous first-half chances with no luck. Kelowna scored the only goal of the opening half.
Kelowna went up by a deuce on a penalty shot before CJ Storey replied with a beautiful header. Vernon midfielder Perez Vermuelen was stymied on a penalty kick and Kelowna added insurance with five minutes remaining.
Vernon got great goalkeeping from Micah Martens and stellar defensive support from Kody Kongsdorf, Trent Graham, Man of the Match Adam Raber, Jarod Latta and Dylan Huber.
Head coach Roy Cooper and assistants Yogi Kongsdorf and Rick Raber were pleased with United’s strong, aggressive play.
