SASKATOON - There was a lot of excitement in Saskatoon over the July 29-30 weekend when the Four Corners Rural Provincials soccer tournament was held for the U19 soccer teams.
The tournament was put on by the Saskatchewan Soccer Association.
The Stoughton Soccer Club brought 15 players from their U15, U17 and U19 teams.
On July 28, they held a Just for Fun Jamboree for the younger players that came to support their teams.
Four mini games that were 15 minutes long were played by the Stoughton Green Beans. They did very well for the three-on-three games.
The following day, the tournament began with Erin Clark as the head coach. Assistant coaches were Jackson Goudy and Graham James.
The first game played was against Nipawin, which they lost 1-0, but this did not discourage the team.
Game 2 they came out in full force against Humboldt and won 1-0.
It was now on to the semifinal game on Sunday.
Once again, they would go head to head with Humboldt. This time Stoughton took the win 2-0. They advanced to the gold game, a place they had been twice before, only to fall short and take home the silver.
They met Nipawin in the final round, and they knew they had to be on their game. As the two teams met, the excitement began to mount in the crowd.
It would be Stoughton scoring first, but the lead would be short lived when Nipawin tied it up.
Regulation time came to an end with a tie game, so it went to a shootout.
Each team would have five shooters with a chance to score a goal, but the game remained tied, so it went to a shootout.
Nipawin would have the first chance, and the Stoughton goalie robbed the potential goal.
It was now Stoughton’s turn. Lincoln Pryde would be the shooter for the team and with his skills and excellent placement of the ball, he scored.
“It was amazing,” said Clark. “These kids are amazing.” Clark said.
She added the kids played well together and they bonded throughout the games.
Four of the players joined the Stoughton club when Clark first formed it in 2015 and this is their last year of playing.
She is extremely proud of her team with how they played and their sportsmanship.
“They were great games with fantastic kids,” said Clark. “It has been a great year.”
