Four soccer teams from the area will be vying for a provincial title this weekend around the province, as the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association hosts their annual championships.
For Maymont Cougars head coach Ryan Nickell, just seeing his team make it to the 1A girls鈥� tournament in Martensville is a major accomplishment given the amount of changes that have happened from last year鈥檚 squad that hosted the provincials.
鈥淲e鈥檝e come a long way in a short amount of time,鈥� Nickell said. 鈥淲e lost a few players to graduation and we had a fairly young roster, so we expected this to be a learning season for the girls.
鈥淭hey play a really good team game. We may not have a ton of players on the roster given the size of our school, but everyone鈥檚 focused on doing what they need to do every time they get to the field.鈥�
The Cougars clinched their spot in the provincials Friday by winning a semifinal game by a score of 3-2 over Ahtahkakoop in North Battleford.
In the championship, Chief Little Pine turned in a dominating performance as they cruised to a 7-1 triumph.
鈥淏oth teams had a lot of scoring chances on Friday, but we were able to come away with the win,鈥� Nickell said.
鈥淐hief Little Pine鈥檚 a strong team and we actually kept it close for the first half, but they were able to pull away in the second half of the game.鈥�
Both schools will be competing at the provincials in Martensville, with Maymont taking on the Warman Panthers in a quarter-final contest Friday and Chief Little Pine going up against the Waldheim Raiders later in the day.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a really strong field and I think we鈥檒l both be in tough in our games,鈥� Nickell said. 鈥淗owever, I think if we can come away with a strong performance, it will be something we can build on going forward.鈥�
Meanwhile, the John Paul II Crusaders of North Battleford will be travelling to Yorkton to compete in the 2A boys鈥� tournament that will be hosted by Sacred Heart High School.
The Crusaders came away with a regional title in Martensville last Saturday following a 3-2 win over Se Se Wa Hum and a 5-4 triumph over the host Royals.
鈥淚 had some high expectations for our boys coming into the season, but I didn鈥檛 want the guys to know that before we started playing,鈥� Crusaders head coach Shalen Fox said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e a little bit of an older team than in previous years, which has made a huge difference for us. We also never give up in games, which is something that was really noticeable in Martensville as we came back to win both games in some pretty bad weather conditions.鈥�
Awaiting the Crusaders in the provincial quarter-finals Friday are the Notre Dame Hounds of Wilcox, who they haven鈥檛 played this year.
鈥淭he one team we know a little bit about is Sacred Heart,鈥� Fox said. 鈥淭hey are the defending champions and we got to see them a little bit at their home tournament earlier this year, and they look really strong again.
鈥淭he biggest thing I want to see from our guys is a full 90-minute effort. We can鈥檛 afford to come out the gates slow against the teams that are going to be in Yorkton. We鈥檙e a lot more relaxed when we have the lead and aren鈥檛 chasing, as we end up making it a lot harder on ourselves.鈥�
North Battleford will also be represented at the 1A boys鈥� event in Middle Lake by Sakewew High School.
As the hosts for a regional tournament last weekend, Sakewew made it to the regional final where they lost a thrilling 5-4 encounter to Ahtahkakoop.
Sakewew will be taking on the tournament host Three Lakes Avengers in a quarter-final game Friday.
