Another year and another title for the Lakeland U16 Dynamo, as the team secured a second straight provincial championship last week in Edmonton.
The team's head coach Mike Pomerleau said he was “absolutely delighted” to see his team secure back to back championships, stating it was a “pretty remarkable achievement” for a small town team to once again dominate on the provincial scene.
“It's absolutely huge for the team and soccer in this region in general for us to have won back to back provincial championships. We knew we had a good shot to win this year, no question about that, but the impressive thing is the way we won it,” Pomerleau said. “Whenever we fell behind, or whenever it looked like the odds were stacked against us, the guys found a way to bounce back. They didn't give up on themselves and they kept believing they could win.”
He added, “So this is a huge, huge achievement for us, especially being from a small area like ours. To have a team come together and win back to back years is pretty remarkable.”
The Dynamo went into the tournament Aug. 15 with an opening round-robin game against the Coaldale Thunder. After a back and forth, high scoring affair, it was the Dynamo that came out on top, securing a 5-3 victory courtesy of an Andrew Anderson hat-trick. They then dispatched of the North Extreme 6-3 in their second game to secure top spot in their group, before dropping their third and final round-robin game 3-1 to CNS United out of Calgary.
That sent up a final showdown with the hometown Mill Woods Selects in the gold medal game on Sunday. After a nervy opening ten minutes, the Dynamo soon took control of the game, with Anderson securing a second hat-trick of the tournament en route to a 6-3 victory.
Pomerleau lauded his team for what he described as some “incredibly mature performances” throughout the tournament as the side secured their second straight provincial gold medal.
“I was absolutely happy with the level of performance and compete on show from the team throughout the tournament, we were a little patchy at times, but one of the things these guys showed this weekend was how much resolve they have when they're up against it a little bit,” Pomerleau said. “When things weren't going their way they stuck together and found a way to fight back and get back into games. I'm very happy with the fight they had and very happy they managed to pull off (a second consecutive) championship.” Dynamo U14 Girls
The Lakeland Dynamo U14 girls team made their inaugural appearance at the provincial championships earlier this month, coming home with a seventh place finish after some tough games with the best that Alberta has to offer.
The team kicked off round robin play with a 3-1 defeat to the South East Storm before following that up with a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat to CWSC Chelsea in the team's second game. Those results knocked the girls out of medal contention, but they rallied in their final game against the Calgary Blizzard Rangers to secure a penalty shootout victory.
Pomerleau, who also coached the girls, said this tournament would serve as a “massive learning curve” for a team that was participating in its first-ever provincial tournament.
“This was the first time any of these girls have played or competed at an event like this, so the experience they gained from the weekend will help them for sure,” Pomerleau said. “I think they've really learned and picked up a lot over the course of the season and this past weekend regarding what they have to do to be competitive and what they have to do to win.”
He added, “There's a couple of things they need to work on for sure, but the important thing is the girls do the basics well, they know what they're good at, it's just about refining their skills a little more moving forward. They're all still really young, so it'll all come together in time.”
