Morning Star Staff
Vernon Tolko United clipped Kelowna United 1-0 in Thompson-Okanagan Under 13 Girls Rep Soccer League play Sunday.
The Tolko crew head into the regional playdowns Friday in Penticton in second place.
Brooklyn Routley put the final foot on the ball during a wild melee in front of the Kelowna net. There was lots of end-to-end action with both teams mounting attacks.
Brianna Li posted her fourth shutout in nine games.
Honorable mentions go to Sarah Boyd, Emma Baycroft, Alex Murphy and Karmen Jenke, who elevated Vernon’s energy on both sides of the ball.
The U11 United Tolko Strikers tied both of their games against Kelowna in Revelstoke, starting with a 2-2 draw.
Kristen Francks finished in the sixth minute after a feed from Anna Hirschkorn and Francks then made it 2-0 after running onto a Jessica Bond through ball.
Kelowna scored twice in the final half, getting the equalizer with seconds remaining.
Midfielder Macy Blades and defender Jordan Tung enjoyed stellar showings.
In their second match of the day, the Strikers drew 2-2 Kelowna B. Francks again opened up the scoring after collecting a Makenna Hamilton-Jackson pass in the 14th minute.
Kelowna then scored twice before Sophia Bilodeau set up Francks for her fourth goal of the day.
Sadie Christensen did a great job in the midfield while Ashley Befus was bold in net.
The Vernon United Tolko AIL MSE Precast U12 Blues iced the Kelowna Crushers 2-1 and then lost 3-2 to the Kelowna Buckaroos.
Skylee Sigurdson-Poirier came on strong from the opening whistle and beat the Kelowna keeper after some fast moves in front of the net.
The pressure continued with attempts by Kaiden Sherwood and Sarah Claeys before the end of the half.
Jordyn Kisilevich was awesome in only letting one goal through, while making multiple impressive saves in the second half. Sherwood fired multiple shots until she pulled off the winner in the late going.
Kisilevich showed her stuff versus the Buckaroos with a flying save right after kick-off.
Sherwood, Sigurdson-Poirier, and Brooklyn Kineshanko applied pressure on the Kelowna keeper.Sarah Claeys, Paige Maleska and Emma Glasser put up a solid defence with the first half ending scoreless.
In the second half, Kelowna got three quick goals, and just when it looked like the game was done, Ava Proctor slid in and buried a beautiful shot for Vernon.
Jessi Cleverley, Allie Maltman and Kineshanko never let up, and made a first-class play resulting in a goal by Kineshanko.
In U15 Girls action, Vernon fell 2-1 to Kelowna with the K-Town girls clicking on a penalty kick at five minutes.
Jayden Strachan answered shortly after for Vernon, assisted by Megan Sherwood.
Brianna Bobbitt and Sierra Folk sparkled on the forward line. Kelsey Carriere and Danica Ariano had a great game controlling center midfield.
Sherwood created a lot of chances out on left midfield, while Nadia Smith and Emillia Durfield were aggressive on central defence. Keeper Hailey Yablonski rang up several big saves in prepartion for provincials.