The U13 Scorpions magical season came to a close last weekend in Aldergrove with a second place finish and a silver medal at the provincial soccer championships.
After dropping the Coastal Cup final a few months back to the Surrey Ravens, winning a silver medal, the Scorpions had their chance for redemption, as they took on Surrey again in Saturday’s final.
Surrey came out hard, pressuring the Scorpions for 15 minutes before taking a 1-0 lead, which soon turned into a 2-0 advantage.
Justin Fodchuk scored for the Scorpions late in the second half, when the Surrey keeper misplayed the ball, but the referee disallowed it.
The Scorpions, unable to handle the speed and checking of the Ravens, eventually lost 4-0 to settle for the silver medal.
The tournament started strong for the Scorpions as they won all three of the qualification round matches.
Up first was South Kootenay last Thursday.
The Scorpions looked sharp from the start, passing and moving the ball decisively. Gabe Goerzen scored the first goal with a header off a corner kick.
The Kootenay attackers caught the Scorpions’ defence off guard, and an aggressive tackle by the defence led to a penalty kick for Kootenay. Goalkeeper Xavier Benjamin got a piece of the shot, but it crossed the goal line and the game was tied.
Scorpions’ defenders Cole Cooney, Philip Fogarty and Evan Griffin stuck to their checks, and wingers Finn Rogers, Ben Luporini and Quintin Towert lent their support to the defence.
The Scorpions’ passing proved to be too much for the Kootenay boys, and a succession of goals followed by Jordan Kammerle, Ben, Quintin and Everett August in the 5-1 win.
On Friday the Scorpions met the Saanich Fusion. Jordan started the scoring by running around three Fusion defenders and then beating the keeper with a perfectly placed shot.
Saanich pushed back, but had a hard time getting through the strong defending of Keegan Inkster, Tristan Tidder and Liam Rankin.
Bradley Huddlestone scored the second Scorpions’ goal by getting in close to the net and tapping it by the goalkeeper. Soon after, the Fusion received a penalty kick, cutting the lead to 2-1 at the half.
The highly-motivated Scorpions came out in the second half with amazing speed and beautiful passing. The Fusion couldn’t handle the ball movement through the midfield and panicked, handing the Scorpions a penalty kick. Jordan took the shot and converted it to a goal.
Feeling confident and strong, the Scorpions kept up the attack, resulting in three more strikes by Jordan, in the 6-1 final.
On Saturday, the Scorpions faced their final challenge in the qualification round, the Williams Lake Storm.
The Scorpions scored first on a penalty shot by Jordan. Soon after, Duncan Armstrong got his first of the tournament. Bradley scored the third, and Jordan got the forth and fifth goals.
Late in the game on a free kick, Tristan Tidder sent a precision shot just over the Storm’s wall and went in to the top of the net. Xavier got a shutout in the 6-0 win.
— Submitted
