The YRHS Raiders edged their Gladstone Avenue rivals the Sacred Heart Saints 2-1 on Saturday afternoon in the final of the Yorkton Soccer Tournament, which was co-hosted by both the Raiders and Saints, but played at the Saints' home field.
Matt McKee opened the scoring for the Raiders in the first half of the tournament final when his shot eluded Saints star keeper Zack Shearer to make it 1-0 Orangemen. But the Saints answered before the half was up when Ben Fetsch beat the Raider keeper to send the game into the half even at one.
Both teams traded chances early on the in second half, however it was the Raiders that found the net once more as they regained their lead midway through the last 45 with their second goal of the game.
The Raiders looked to add to their lead several minutes later but were once again turned away by Shearer, who made a strong save off of the Raider attack to keep his team within one.
Unfortunately for Shearer, however, his team would remain within one as his Saints simply couldn't muster enough energy to beat the Raider netminder for a second time resulting in a 2-1 victory for the boys in orange and the third straight for the YRHS over their Yorkton rivals this season.
But while the Raiders upped their 2014 winning streak to three over the Saints, YRHS head coach Steven DeLong feels that every time the two sides meet up, the game is always very competitive. "It seems like whenever we play them they elevate their game," offered DeLong. "I've seen them play teams that we've beaten before and they have close games against them where they might lose or just win, but against us it seems like they're a whole different team.
"They really come out strong and that's really good for us as it gives us good competition heading into Regionals and Provincials."
Saints co-coach Scott Hoffort also touched on the fact that playing the Regional often does nothing but benefit both clubs as they march toward their respective Provincial competitions. "Playing against the Regional is an excellent opportunity for us (and them) to improve," mentioned Hoffort, adding, "they have a fantastic team and for us to be able to play tough against them, it helps us to develop."
Both coaches, DeLong and Hoffort, also shared similar views on one of the top players in the tournament: Sacred Heart's keeper Zack Shearer. "Zack is a great goalie and you know it's going to be difficult to beat him," mentioned the Raiders head coach. "Our boys can take pride in the fact that we got two past him and that's always an achievement."
Hoffort also had nothing but positive things to say about his keeper, likening the 14-year-old Shearer to a football quarterback. "Obviously his skills in goal are fantastic, but he's kind of like our quarterback back there in a sense as well," said Hoffort of his star netminder. "He's an excellent communicator with our players, and he's able to kind of see things on the field that helps us play a better game of soccer.
"With his ability to do that, it offers our players an added eye if you want to call it that, on the field. That makes a huge difference for us."
Tournament journey
Both Yorkton clubs took similar, yet different, routes to the 'A' Side championship final in their co-hosted tournament.
The Saints played near perfect soccer in their first game against Muenster, allowing the visitors one goal while potting four of their own off the feet of Jake Holinaty, Michael Dobrowolski, Liam Poole and Fetsch.
Sacred then took on the Luther Lions in the 'A' side semi-final match, beating the Lions 6-3 despite trailing 3-1 late in the first half before scoring five straight unanswered goals, including a Fetsch hattrick, for the victory to move them to the final where they fell 2-1 to the Regional.
The YRHS on the other hand took a similar, yet different approach to the 'A' side final.
The YRHS soccer team, due to Moose Jaw Vanier dropping out at of the tournament last moment, had to split their team in half and play twice as many games, including four on Saturday.
However the weight of the added games didn't prevent the YRHS 'A' squad from obliterating Kipling 10-1 to open the tournament.
The 'B' squad also opened their tournament with a victory, downing Luther 7-4. But the 'B' club win meant that the two YRHS clubs were scheduled to face each other in the semi-final, however the decision was made that the 'B' team would drop down to the 'B' side while Luther would move over to face Sacred Heart in the other semi-final.
Meanwhile the Raider 'A' team faced Swift Current in their 'A' side semi-final, doubling up the Colts 4-2 to advance to the final where they beat Sacred 2-1.
The 'B' team, on the other hand, fell in the consolation final.
Up next
Neither the Saints nor the Raiders have any more tournaments leading up to their Regional and Provincial playdowns, however the Sacred Heart Saints will be in action this upcoming weekend when they welcome the Estevan Elecs to town for an exhibition match.
The Raiders, meanwhile, have nothing scheduled at the time being although will be looking at some friendly matches in the near future.
