Vernon United VUZ U12 Boys marked Mother’s Day with a pair of wins and then handed out flowers and hugs to their moms Sunday in Revelstoke.
United dispatched Kelowna United K 6-3 and then clipped Kamloops Blaze G 4-3 in Thompson Okanagan Rep Soccer League play.
Jentenzen Peterson, assisted by Ethan Anderson and Josh Donison, converted at four minutes against Kelowna. Less than half a minute later, Henry Routley made it 2-0.
Good defensive play was exhibited by Kaden O’Connor, while Dillon Rinkel made some diving saves to keep Vernon in front. At seven minutes, it was Peterson again from Routley to make it 3-0.
More defensive prowess was displayed by Jonas McMeeking-Walsh and Blake Beaton. With just over a minute left in the half, Anderson connected, assisted by Donison.
Kelowna garnered back-to-back goals early in the final half. A hand-ball penalty on Kelowna allowed Peterson to bury the free kick to make it 5-2. Hunter Schindel scored the sixth goal before Kelowna finished the offence.
The second match was played in cold and rainy conditions with Peterson clicking in the 14th minute. James Richardson was key working the midfield and setting up the United strikers.
Kamloops levelled the score at 20 minutes and went ahead less than two minutes later. Peterson muscled the ball up the field and equalized. Dynamic defensive play came from Chase Cedarholm and Lucas Holtz.
Rowan Smith played a key role in pressuring the Kelowna midfield which allowed Routley to register the go-ahead snipe.
The Blaze tied things again and Rinkel recorded some crucial stops before Rowan Calder placed a beautiful corner right on Peterson’s boot for the winner.
The Tolko United u13 Boys bottled up Kelowna United A 5-0 Sunday.
Justin Rucheinsky and Jonathan Fraser-Monroe shared another shutout with Owen Challen finishing a pass from Cameron Acob and Marcus Erho for the winner in the second minute.
Challen struck again moments later on a shot that rebounded off the side bar. Cash Anderson grabbed a long pass from Marcus Petersen and beat the keeper to make it 3-0 before the half.
Vernon maintained possession for the majority of the game, with Alex Kazimer, Kolby Thorpe and Carter Leahy applying constant pressure in Kelowna’s end. Challen completed the hat trick in the second half and then added No. 4 on the day.
Meanwhile, Vernon Tolko United celebrated Mother’s Day by blanking Kamloops Blaze 1-0 in Thompson-Okanagan U17 Girls Rep Soccer League play at MacDonald Park.
United played a great possession game and strung together some splendid combination play through the middle to build their attack midway through the first half.
Kamloops battled back hard but some tough tackles and skillful maneuvering by the United defence thwarted many of their opportunities. It was well into the second half that United got the go-ahead goal. Emilia Durfeld stole the ball in the defensive end and sent it up the wing to Jayden Strachan, who beat her check, cut in, and got the cross right to the boot of Ali Holman, who redirected it with nice finish.
Borrowed keeper Hailey Yablonskiwas playing her second game of the day, and came up with some critical saves for the shutout.
“It was a stressful game” she said after the match.
The U12 Girls, under coaches Colin Clarke and Cory Hoard, earned a phenomenal scoreless draw with Kamloops Sunday at Marshall Field.
Lauren Hoard was a wall in net stopping everything that came her way. Makenna Hamilton-Jackson, Adelynne Heyes, Naomi King and Abby Lawlor made some fantastic plays up front, but just failed to convert. Dynamic defence was provided by Tori Maltman, Joelle Kohtala, Macy Blades and Jordan Tung.
The United Tolko U12 Strikers brushed back the Shuswap Selects 2-0 Sunday afternoon at Marshall Field.
The Strikers dominated the early going and were rewarded at four minutes when Aimee Skinner played a long ball to Kristen Francks, who streaked down the right flank and past the Shuswap defender. Francks then slotted the ball into the near corner.
Anna Hirschkorn sealed the deal with 10 minutes left when she intercepted a poor clearance and rocketed a shot top right corner from 15 yards. Clara Meyer, Skinner and Jessica Bond played well defensively, while Makenna Doyle and Jesse Mitchell shared the shutout.
Vernon defeated Kelowna 3-1 in U14 Girls play with goals coming from Morgan Boisvert, Abigail King and newbie Jordan Morris.
Sarah Boyd was bold on the back line, helping keeper Brianna Li prevent a goal, while some fantastic positional play was turned in by Emma Baycroft, who made some sweet feeds to elevate team play and set up offensive strikes.
The Kamloops Blaze L toppled United Tolko/Coldstream Lumber 3-1 in U13 Girls action.
The Blaze connected in the 10th minute, but Vernon pushed back with Kaitlyn Budgen and Georgia Wenger driving the net for a quality chance and Skylee Sigurdson-Poirier following with a strong attempt.
Keeper Jordyn Kisilevich recorded multiple saves to keep United in the mix until Ava Proctor equalized with a shot that rebounded off a Kamloops player.
Kamloops answered quickly a few minutes later and added a third insurance tally.