The St. Albert Impact U14 Boys Tier II has reason to celebrate after taking home a gold medal over the weekend at the annual St. Albert Soccer Association’s Victoria Day Classic tournament.
The team went undefeated in the three-game tournament, allowing just a single goal.
“[The defence] didn’t allow very many opportunities at all,” said coach Steve Houle. “The few opportunities that got through, our goalkeepers were outstanding. They made a couple of saves that were probably a turning point if they had gone in.”
The team won straight out of the gate Friday, defeating Scottish United 3-1, sending them into a Saturday match-up against Athabasca, in which they posted an 8-0 landslide victory.
Houle said Red Deer, Scottish United and the Sherwood Park Phoenix were the toughest competition heading into the tournament.
“Traditionally, we have very good games against Red Deer so it was appropriate that they were in the gold-medal match,” he said.
The gold-medal competition faced each other earlier in the pre-season, with the game ending in a tie. St. Albert shut out the Red Deer Renegades in the final for a 2-0 win, earning them gold.
“I thought the final was a good game, but we certainly carried the play and we had more chances,” Houle said. “I thought the score could have been even higher, but they were outstanding.”
Despite having success early in the season, Houle said he isn’t worried the success will affect future games.
“I think they keep a pretty level head,” he said. “The games don’t win themselves. They have to come out full-effort every single game. They have to come out firing every time.”
Scouts with the Alberta Soccer Association were present at the tournament and Houle said there are a handful of players on his team who are eligible to be scouted.
“There’s a few that are capable of that level,” he said. “There’s some players that are definitely qualified and we’ve had discussions about a couple of them in the past.”
The team had an advantage heading into the weekend tournament, as a result of a spring-break training camp and a handful of early-season games, he said.
The Victoria Day Classic gave the team a chance to put their skills from the training camp to the test, particularly focusing on the backline, Houle said.
“They’re understanding the system a little bit better … earlier, they were a little bit out of position in the season, but I think this weekend, they finally got it and they’re really playing that position well,” he said.
A total of 15 St. Albert teams competed over the weekend, taking home hardware in many categories.
