The Vernon FC U15 girls shut down Calgary McKenzie Academy 2-0 in Sunday’s gold-medal final of the Easter Okanagan IceBreaker Soccer Tournament in Lake Country.
Calgary showed well in the first 15 minutes creating some good scoring chances but keeper Brianna Li was always there. The teams went scoreless in the opening half, but thanks to a Disney-like coaches halftime talk, the Vernon players took over the game completely dominating possession, offensive chances and physical play.
Tournament MVP Brooklyn Routely got things started with a brilliant run down the left side finishing low and giving Vernon a 1-0 lead.
Sustained offensive opportunities lead to a penalty kick where Jordyn Morris struck the crossbar.
But soon after, with chances piling up, game MVP Kate McIntosh scored a Zlatan Ibrahimovic-type side volley from 20 paces, hitting the top corner for the goal of the day.
With Calgary going over the top in an attempt at a comeback, fullback Morgan Boisvert was instrumental in holding off any hope as she dominated her side technically and physically.
United FC kicked off their season by dispatching the defending champion Vernon United U14 girls 2-1.
The U14s played with class and passion. Game MVP went to U15 keeper Li, who received great support from her back line, including Kassidy Shaper-Kotter who gave little ground to her younger opponents. The game marked the return of Megan Henderson, who showed very little rust after missing the previous season to injury. Morris took MVP.
Vernon then fell 2-1 to a fresh Kelowna United team. The Vernon girls dominated play but in the end, discovered that being in shape for basketball, hockey and/or volleyball does not equal being in shape for soccer.
Game 3 saw United edge against Calgary MUSC 1-0 with Vernon getting spirited play from Nyla Wilford and great defence from centre backs Claire Baycroft, Dilan Sidhu and holding mid Alassa Johnson to stifle any offensive ideas.
Fullbacks Sarah Boyd and rookie Rushauna Tomlinson were marvellous in wide support and offence. The breakthrough for Vernon came late with some nice build-up play starting with Emma Baycroft working the ball to Morris who made some Messi like moves and finished nicely.
MVP centre mid Francesca Durfeld was in beast mode throughout the game allowing Vernon to dominate the centre of the pitch with great tandem support from Sydney Torrie.
The Vernon United U13 Girls Tolko Strikers took the silver medal in the Ice Breaker Easter Weekend Soccer Tournament in Lake Country.
The North Shore Fury of Vancouver shaded Vernon 1-0 (7-6) on penalty kicks in a thrilling final Sunday at Beasley Park.
United dominated the scoring chances in regulation time, but the Fury keeper kept denying them. After nine penalty takers each, the Fury walked away with the gold.
Jessica Bond, Amy Curtis and Ashley Befus were noted for their strong play on defence all tournament, along with Jessie Mitchell and Lauren Hoard in net, sharing four clean sheets.
“The girls should be proud of their efforts”, said Vernon head coach Rolf Hirschkorn. “To concede only one goal in regulation play and scoring eight is a good starting point for the season.”
They started off their 2018 campaign Friday morning by brushing back Kelowna United Yellow 3-0.
Paige Cover opened up the scoring after redirecting an Anna Hirschkorn free kick in to the back of the net.
Hirschkorn then made it 2-0 after converting a penalty shot. Jordyn Clark completed the offence after slotting home a Kirsten Brown through ball. Hoard and Mitchell shared the shutout. Tori Maltman was selected as game MVP.
The Tolko girls then knocked off North Shore Fury 3-1 with Hirschkorn connecting twice in the first half on blasts from 20 and 25 yards.
The Fury narrowed the gap to one goal in the second half, but Chelsea Sladen sealed the deal when she hit a beautiful one timer into the right side of the net. Adelynn Heyes was selected game MVP, while Makenna Doyle was noted for her strong play in midfield.
On Saturday morning, Vernon United grounded the Nelson Selects 2-0. Heyes broke the deadlock after running onto the Mitchell drop kick and chipped the Nelson keeper.
Abby Lawlor made it 2-0 after receiving a nice cross from Heyes. Hirschkorn was game MVP.
The Tolko Strikers meet Kelowna United Red on Sunday on the Mission Turf to kick off their regular season.
Vernon United U11 White played their first four games of the season at the Lake Country IceBreaker.
They lost 6-0 to Kelowna United in their opener with Miya Nicolson, Mia Bolin and Charlotte Schommer having strong games.
United then stopped Vernon United U11 Blue 3-1 with Lily Schommer bagging a deuce and Nicolson collecting the winner, assists going to Addison Bishop, Kennedy Mund, Grace Collins, Emi Nicolson, and Skylar Calvert.
Vernon lost 5-0 to another Kelowna United squad, and finished off with a 2-1 loss to Okanagan Mission with Devyn Hildebrand finding the back of the net. Lily Nelson and Renee Acob showed strong support all weekend and the girls are now getting ready for Kamloops in two weeks.
The United Tolko U11 Girls Blue lost 2-0 to the more experienced McKenzie Academy Spurs in their second game. Keeper duties were shared by Lanaya Sherwood and Addison Royal.
Holding-mid position was well played by Paige Leahy, Sidney Hannah and Sophia Scott. Mya Devries used her skill on defence, along with Sierra Munroe and Kianna Gardner.
Emery Britton and Kate Holmes assisted in bringing the ball up the wing to Ella Klingel and Gracie Gilowski who shared the striker position. Game MVP went to Kaylee Carlos, who was stellar up front.
Game 3 saw the Blues bow 3-1 to Kelowna, falling behind by two before answering with a fabulous lefty corker by Kate Holmes. Ella Klingel was rock-solid in net with multiple shots fired her way. The defensive line of Emery Britton, Sophia Scott, Kianna Gardner, Lanaya Sherwood and Gracie Gilowski shut down many chances by Kelowna, who added insurance early in the final half.
Paige Leahy recovered from the previous goal, with a brilliant save to keep her team in the game. Hannah, Devries , Addison Royal and Carlos kept applying pressure on the resilient Kelowna goalie with no luck. Game MVP was Hannah.
Vernon finished with a 5-1 load to another Kelowna entry with snow falling at the opening kick-off.
Leahy, playing striker, received a brilliant pass from winger Carlos to register the first goal of the game. Kelowna came back with five unanswered goals.
Both Holmes and Devries were brilliant in net, making many saves with great activity in front of the net in both halves. Hannah, Britton, Klingel, and Lanaya Sherwood were superb on defence. Game MVP was awarded to Leahy, while the tournament MVP was awarded to Devries.
Meanwhile, the United Tolko Coldstream Lumber U14 Girls went 1-3 while competing hard in every game in Lake Country.
The Lumber crew lost 2-1 to the Vernon U15s in their opener with Brooklyn Kineshanko denied on a quick blast in the first minutes.
Keeper Jordyn Kisilevich made some stellar saves and held off the opposition in the first half.
Unfortunately, the U15 girls came out hard in the second half and scored two goals while giving up an own goal. MVP was Mya Robinson.
Vernon then fell 4-0 to McKenzie Academy Strykers despite strong defensive efforts from Nadia Nelson-Shah and Paige Maleska. Jessi Cleverley, Robinson and Ava Proctor also made some fantastic plays, but were unable to get anything past the Strykers goalie. Robinson took MVP again.
Coldstream Lumber then clipped Kelowna United 1-0 with Vernon pressuring hard in the first half on runs by defender Mia Maltman and hustling by Georgia Wenger and Robinson up front.
Midway through the second half, their efforts were rewarded when the Kelowna keeper fumbled a shot by Wenger, and Proctor stepped in to seal the deal. Keeper Kisilevich was a rock star, while Kendall McKinnon and Allie Maltman sparkled on the back line. Proctor got the nod as MVP.
United ended the tourney by losing 3-1 to the same Kelowna team they defeated the day previous.
Early on, Wenger buried a corker, but Kelowna answered before the end of the half. Even though there were two unanswered goals by Kelowna United in the second half, MVP Cali Garro and Emma Glasser never let up defensively. Garro took tournament MVP.
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