Barely two weeks removed from a blanket of snow that covered the turf at the St. Albert Minor Soccer Association grounds, hundreds of local soccer players made the trek to the Riel fields for the annual Victoria Day Classic.
While St. Albert teams failed to come out on top in the tournament, which featured 40 squads across eight age categories, three St. Albert teams qualified for the bronze medal games.
The U14 Tier II Impact strung together a solid tournament with a 2-1 record in the round robin. While the Impact posted three goals in the span of two games, their offence was matched in the bronze medal match against the Red Deer Renegades who shut-out the home team 3-0. The strong opening round followed by a less than perfect final game could be attributed to general fatigue, according to Impact head coach Steve Farrell.
"It was a little up and down. It was the first tournament of the season so we are just shaking out the bugs a little bit," said Farrell. "Yesterday's game was amazing but today was OK. It was little bit to do with the weather but the girls were short-handed, so they were a little bit tired by the end of the game."
Aside from fatigue, consistency could be another issue. In two of three games, the Impact were kept off the scoreboard. Impact assistant coach Keegan Farrell is confident the results can improve from the addition of an element in their game.
"We just need to make sure they are keeping their heads up when passing, not letting the pressure get to them. Just relaxing and playing their own game."
For a team that has their eyes set on the provincials this year, getting those extra points in crucial moments will be essential.
"We are concerned with space this year. Basically getting wide on the attack, closing down space on the defence," said Farrell. "We are still tying to shake that out. We have a whole season and I guarantee by the end of the year they are going to be a little bit better tuned."
U12 soccer
On the U12 Tier I side, the Impact achieved the same results as their older counterparts but through a different course.
The U12 Impact tied both their games 1-1 in the round robin against the Edmonton Raiders and South West United. They went on to lose the bronze medal game 4-3 on penalty kicks after the game finished in a scoreless draw. The difference between gold and last place was almost non-existent according to team coach Rob Bourbonnais.
"Friday night we were 15 seconds away from going into the gold medal game. We were winning against the West End Raiders 1-0 and the Raiders ended up tying the game in the last 30 seconds," said Bourbonnais. "Had we been able to hold off for that little bit, we would have been playing in the gold medal game."
The Impact U12 Tier II squad were able to best their U12 counterparts in their division, winning the bronze medal game.
