Morning Star Staff
Vernon Tolko United lost 3-0 to Kelowna United in the Thompson-Okanagan Under 14 Boys Rep Soccer League semifinal Sunday afternoon at Kings Park in Penticton.
Kelowna scored near five minutes on a hard shot to the corner and notched two more before the half with the rain pouring.
Vernon pressed back in the second half but Kelowna’s pace and first touch was just too good.
Vernon keeper Jared Ross made several great saves and Josh McKeown and Hayden Catt enjoyed stellar showings.
The boys thanked coaches Calvin Reich, James Cotter and Bobbi Catt along with manager Mel Skinner for their great season.
The United U15 Boys, coached by Robin Baycroft, were eliminated 3-1 by the Penticton Pinnacles.
Will Denny and Jacob Baycroft enjoyed early chances before Penticton retaliated with a high lob just out of keeper Ian Oliphant’s reach.
End to end play ensued with Liam Jakobson, Memphis Gervais and Reilly Johnson demonstrating determined moves.
The Pinnacles managed to find a hole in the Vernon play to put a safety goal on the scoreboard just before the end of the half.
Renewed legs and spirits found Vernon dominating the opening of the second half with some fleet feet and solid passing by Bryan Brew, Jaidyn Gordon-Mason and Jakobson creating pressure A corner play put United on the scoreboard when Gordon-Mason sent a perfect feed to fullback-turned-striker, Oliver Meyer.
United U12 Boys played double-headers in Kelowna with Team S splitting with Kamloops.
Jared Eddy and Fraser Christensen shared keeper duties in Game 1 in a 2-0 loss to Kamloops Blaze H, making some brilliant stops on the marauding Kamloops players.
Marcus Petersen, Parker Munroe and Roan Reid battled hard against the Kamloops offense.
United rebounded for a 3-2 win over Kamloops with starter Landon Janke making some amazing saves.
The Blaze scored first but Daxton Podollan connected on a Vernon corner to even things up before the recess.
Eddy took the gloves in the final half and the boys enjoyed multiple chances from Ben Straight and Alex Kazimer. Janke put Vernon ahead with a penalty snipe but Kamloops quickly equalized.
After a back and forth half, Nick Noren finished a Vernon rebound for the winner.
United Team C grounded Revelstoke 4-0 and dispatched Shuswap C 5-0.
Aiden Winn started in net for Vernon with Danny McLennan connecting first on a corner from Liam Collins.
Zach Loland set up Carter Leahy for the second goal, while Jonah Violini converted a corker and Justin Ruscheinsky finished the offence Braden Schmiegelt took over in net for the second half backed by defender Alexander Jones.
Marcus Erho started the scoring on a great shot against Shuswap. Owen Challen and Cameron Acob connected passes to create numerous chances for Vernon.
Collins connected a header right to Cash Anderson, who slid the ball past the keeper. Leahy and Loland set up McLennan for his second of the day and Loland buried his rebound and Violini, supported by Erho and Loland, clicked with seconds to play.