A 1-1-1 record was good enough for a silver medal for the St. Albert Impact 2 at the Alberta Soccer Association tier II championship last weekend in Calgary.
“It was a total team effort. Every individual contributed,” said head coach Dave Bilodeau.
The Impact 2 replaced the Ital Canadians as the second Edmonton District Soccer Association (EDSA) rep in the four-team draw after Ital was unable to field a team. In the provincial playdowns, Ital (12-1-1 in division 1B) edged out the Impact 2 (7-1-5 in division 1A) by a score of 2-1 for the provincial berth.
Despite the short notice, the Impact 2 was able to piece together a provincial-calibre lineup. Brought on board were former team players as well as Mark McQuaid and Emmett Keenan, the top scorers for the St. Albert Impact Rangers in the premier division.
“Everybody really fought for each other,” Bilodeau said.
In the opening game, the Impact 2 and Calgary Alumni battled to a hard-fought 1-1 draw. In the next match, St. Albert lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to AS Roma (9-2-3 in division 1A), the eventual gold medallists.
The Impact 2 wrapped up the tournament with a 3-0 decision over the Blizzard Imperials.
At the tier III provincials last year in Edmonton, the Impact 2 finished out of the medal round with a 1-2 record as the EDSA’s top division 2A team.
The St. Albert Mavericks lost Sunday’s bronze-medal match by the slimmest of margins at the tier IV provincials in Calgary.
The Original Joes Crew from Grande Prairie had one chance early in the second half and they made no mistake to win 1-0.
“They played a strong defensive game and converted when they had the opportunity,” said Shane Moore, head coach of the division one-pennant winners at 17-1 in the St. Albert Women’s Soccer League (SAWSL).
The Mavericks, the highest-scoring SAWSL team with an average of 5.2 goals per game, were snake bitten in the offensive end. Jen Bruinsma slid one by the post, Alison Johannesen missed a couple and Kristen Patrick hit the crossbar as the Mavericks finished 2-2 overall.
“In my opinion, we were the probably the second best team in the tournament,” Moore said.
The Mavericks got off to a rough start in the opening game, losing 5-1 to the Capitals, the eventual gold medallists from Edmonton.
“We started slow and didn’t really get into our groove. We had six or seven gold star chances, but only put one away [by Bruinsma],” Moore said.
The next match was against the Cochrane Rangers, the first Calgary seed. After falling behind 1-0, a penalty shot about 20 minutes into the second half was converted by Johannesen. Allyson Fong scored the game winner with a classic chip shot with about five minutes left as the Mavericks prevailed 2-1.
“It was a close game. Cochrane took the lead quite early and we fought back all game. We dominated possession and spent a large majority of the time in the Cochrane end,” Moore said.
The last game in the group II round robin was an 8-1 blowout of Sherwood Park. It was pouring buckets when the Park struck first. The Mavericks replied with four goals before halftime. Fong’s hat trick led all scorers. Mel Johannesen added a pair and singles were supplied by Sarah Crerar, Bruinsma and Alison Johannesen. The result left the Mavericks in second spot and the chance to play for bronze in their first trip to provincials in team history.
The fourth-place finish was also the best result by a SAWSL team since 2005, when the Morinville Ladies won bronze.
The top two teams in the St. Albert Men’s Soccer League’s (SAMSL) regular season failed to register a victory at the tier IV provincials last weekend in Calgary.
First-place Chester City (10-2) was outscored 9-1 in two losses in group I and second-place SA United (9-2-1) gave up nine goals without scoring once in two losses in group II. Both teams took only 13 able bodies with them to the tournament.
United, the SAMSL playoff finalists, finished seventh and Chester placed eighth in the nine-team draw.
