Neither the St. Paul U16 boys or girls team were able to earn a provincial medal at the provincial tournament, hosted at the local Lions Field this past weekend, but there were enough positive things that took place on the field to make the experience a success.
“I am just really proud of what the girls were able to accomplish this weekend,” said U16 girls head coach Amy Thomson. “The girls played some really good games while they battled some very difficult weather conditions.”
“Our team gained respect from the other teams with the way we competed,” said Stephanie Tremblay, the coach of the St. Paul boys team.
The girls finished with a 1-2-1 record to finish in seventh place, while the boys went 1-1-1. They earned a tie in the playoff game for fifth place..
Girls
In a tournament that saw the St. Paul girls beat one of their opponents by a 5-1 score, it was a 0-0 tie against Athabasca on Friday night that impressed Thomson the most.
“That was our best performance of the season in terms of being first on the ball and controlling possession of the ball,” said Thomson. “The girls completely dominated the game.”
To spectators at the game, Thomson’s viewpoint was clear. The St. Paul girls were infinitely more dangerous on offense. They peppered a lot of balls toward the Athabasca goal, and they played at a higher pace than their opponents. Conversely, it was a herculean struggle for the Athabasca attackers to get anywhere close to the prime scoring areas.
In addition to the strong gameplay by her team, Thomson says the presence of a lot of smoke in the air was a standout element of the opening night.
“The smoke had a bit of a greenhouse effect in that the smoke trapped heat onto the field,” said Thomson.
The second day saw the girls face Edson in an 11 a.m. matchup. St. Paul was crushed by a 7-1 score.
“Edson was a really strong team,” said Thomson. “They came out of the gate really hard and took it to us.”
The girls bounced back in their third game against Rimbey. They did lose the game 5-3 but the compete level from the local team was significantly higher. Thomson said her team “played well enough to win.”
In the girls’ last game of the season, team’s potent offense broke out en route to earning a 5-1 victory against Thorsby, and seventh place in the overall standings. Thomson said she was very pleased with her team’s sportsmanship along with their on-field prowess.
Boys
The St. Paul boys made quite a statement with an 8-1 win in the opening tournament game on Friday night against Calmar.
Tremblay said she was really pleased with how “the boys possessed the ball and attacked the net,” and she cited the two-goal performances of Madison Brousseau and Brandon Fedoruk.
The Calmar team was made up of a number of girls, while St. Paul only had one girl on its boys’ team. It was a stellar performance, nonetheless. Calmar players were overwhelmed by the speed and ball skills of the St. Paul team. Other than the one goal, Calmar did not really generate a quality chance on the St. Paul net.
The boys’ second game was on Saturday afternoon against Peace River. It was a game that Peace River won due to a strong finish.
“The game was at a 2-2 tie, but then we just let them take over,” says Tremblay.
Leading the way for Peace River was Kalkeydale Ayele with a hat trick.
The loss put the boys out of medal contention. The boys dropped into a fifth place game on Sunday morning against Athabasca. Both teams battled hard to a 2-2 draw while dealing with tough 32°C weather.
Tremblay says she was really pleased with the result considering how young the St. Paul team is. There are seven U14 players on the squad. This could bode very well for the team next year if a majority of these players return.
They have already shown medal winning potential by finishing with a bronze medal at the Lakeland Cup back in June.
The St. Paul U12 boys team won a bronze medal at provincials in Vermillion this past weekend. Pick up next week’s journal for a story about the team’s tournament.
