It’s not too often that a 2A school can compete with 3A schools in a team sport, however the Sacred Heart Saints boys’ soccer team proved that they are the exception to the rule, going 2-1 over three games at an SHSAA 3A tournament in Prince Albert this past weekend.
It was a battle of the silver 2014 SHSAA silver medallists in the first game of the tournament, as the 2A silver medallist Saints opened the tournament up against last year’s 3A silver medallists the Prince Albert St. Mary Marauders.
The Saints struggled out of the gate against a very physical and aggressive Marauder side, giving up four goals while responding with just two of their own, both scored by Nick Fetsch, to drop the opening contest of the tournament 4-2.
The second game of the tournament saw Sacred Heart take on a fellow SHSAA 2A division team from Se Se Wa Hum. The Saints struck often in the game with Nick Fetsch once again netting a brace, while singles were scored by Steven Oleskiw, Austin Thomas and Ben Fetsch.
Michael Dobrowolski picked up the shutout in the net for the Saints.
The victory meant that the Saints moved on to play their second 3A opponent of the tournament, the Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders.
This time the Saints were ready for the 3A squad, combining suffocating defence with timely scoring to upset Carlton 3-0 on the strength of goals by Ben Fetsch, Kyle Schmidt and Christian Smith.
Zack Kostersky and Dawson Malinowski also played well in the 3-0 win, while Dobrowolski picked up his second consecutive shutout of the tournament.
The Saints will now take a few weeks off before travelling to Kipling on October 23-24 for the Regional championship with the hopes of qualifying for the 2015 Provincials in Regina the following weekend, October 30-31.