The Yorkton United U14 boys鈥� team improved their 2015 record to 2-1-1 after a four point home weekend, good enough for seven points in the Saskatchewan Premier Soccer League (SPSL) U14 Division, two points back of table leader FC Regina (3-1-0, nine points) and tied with Saskatoon鈥檚 Lakewood Atletico (2-0-1, seven points).
QC United (1-3-0) sits in fourth place with three points while the Prince Albert Celtics hold down last place and have yet to register a point in three games with a 0-3-0 record.
The U14 United knocked off Prince Albert on Saturday 9-0 before playing to a 0-0 draw Sunday against Lakewood Atletico.
Saturday
Saturday saw United catch a young Prince Albert squad sleeping, routinely putting the ball past their keeper for a big 9-0 victory.
Matthew Cochrane opened the scoring for United on the day with Zachary Wittig quickly following suit with a marker of his own to make it 2-0 for the home side.
Dawson Malinowsk and Teijon Abel-Douglasi put Yorkton up 3-0 and 4-0 respectively before a pair of Nick Fetsch goals saw Yorkton move to 6-0 up on Prince Albert.
Jordin Rusnack鈥檚 first of the season made it a 7-0 advantage while Fetsch鈥檚 third and fourth goals of the game made it a 9-0 final in favour of Yorkton. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 a direct result of the amount of talent that we have,鈥� United U14 head coach Steven DeLong told Yorkton This Week following the game, adding that the different ages of the two teams also had something to do with the one-sided score. 鈥淟ast year we were the young team, now we鈥檙e the senior team. Last year they were a senior team and now they鈥檙e a young team.
鈥淭his league really depends on the age of the team and so we just had more experience and a bit more skill.鈥�
DeLong also mentioned that the team has stepped up their training from last year, suggesting that might have something to do with their strong start to the 2015 summer season as well. 鈥淲e鈥檝e added an extra practice this year and all of the boys have bought in and they鈥檙e at all the training and that type of thing,鈥� offered DeLong. 鈥淪o I think this start is a direct result of their hard work and effort that they鈥檙e putting into the season.鈥�
Scoreless Sunday
It seemed as if United used up their weekend goal quota on Saturday as, despite directing several shots on the Lakewood net, the boys from Yorkton could not find a way to put a ball past the Saskatoon keeper.
However they weren鈥檛 the only team that struggled offensively on a very windy day in Yorkton. Lakewood also had a hard time generating any sort of offence on Sunday afternoon and when they did Yorkton keeper Austin Stewart was there to ensure no harm would come to the United club resulting in a hard fought 0-0 draw. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a huge presence in net and for an under ager he plays way above with no fear,鈥� coach DeLong said of his starting keeper. 鈥淲hen you have a goalie that you can trust back there, I think it puts the defence at ease and those long shots no one is concerned about because you know he鈥檚 going to catch them.
鈥淗e also made a couple of nice saves at the end of the first half and then at the end of the second half he made a huge one as well to keep the game scoreless.鈥�
DeLong then noted that the defence, which struggled mightily last year, has been very strong so far this season through four games surrendering just three goals and limiting the number of shots the opposition has had but that the offence needs to be able to find a way to score against the stronger teams in the league.
鈥淲e just need to find a way to win games like this one and then we鈥檒l start to really show how good we can be,鈥� suggested DeLong, continuing, 鈥淲e鈥檝e got all the talent and skill and the work rate down now, we just need to learn how to win games like this and then when it comes to the final weekend I think we鈥檒l be a team that other teams will be worried about.鈥�
The next action for Yorkton United U14 will be the weekend of June 27 and 28 when they visit Prince Albert (0-3-0) and Lakewood Atletico (2-0-1) respectively with the hopes of improving their record from 2-1-1 to 4-1-1.
