The Yorkton United Dynamo U16 team, under the direction of Andy Wyatt, headed off to Moose Jaw June 29 to July 1 for the Division 2 Soccer Provincials.
Since the team did not have enough U16 players for the 11-man game, they entered as a U18 team after picking up two additional U18 players from Yorkton, three U18 players from Humboldt and two U16 players from Regina.
Yorkton kicked off the tournament with a 2-1 win over the Moose Jaw Storm in the morning. Later in the day, they met up with Swift Current United and gave up a 3-1 loss. The following day proved to be a scorcher temperature wise, and the team had to prove their ability to play in blistering heat and high winds. They faced off against the UCT Mustangs from Regina. Neither team, however, came away with the victory as it ended in a 0-0 tie. The final contest of the day resulted in a very physical game against Regina Unidad. The game was close from start to finish, ending in a 1-0 Yorkton win.
At the completion of the second day of game play, the Dynamo still did not know if they had enough points to advance to the final. One more set of games was to be played the morning of July 1 which would determine if they advanced or not. So the players, coach and parents waited to see what their fate would be. Following the final set of morning games, it was determined that Yorkton would advance to the finals and play against the undefeated Swift Current United team.
Unfortunately for Yorkton, they lost three of their players on this day due to previous commitments and to top it off, it was the hottest day yet of the tournament. With only one substitute player, the Dynamo set out to break the undefeated streak of the Swift Current team. The opening goal went to Swift Current when a pass back to the Yorkton keeper was missed and the ball trickled into the Dynamo's net. This type of major error deflates most teams, but not the Dynamo. They seemed that much more determined to get back into the game and get the ball into Swift Current's net. Great passing and team work on behalf of Yorkton had them making numerous runs to Swift Current's net. Several shots on goal didn't quite make it past Swift Current's goaltender until almost halfway through the first half when Matthew McKee's quick shot found its way to hitting the mesh. The second half of the game was once again dominated by the Dynamo with controlled passing and movement of the ball. In the second last minute of the game, Haylen Langelier found the opening in Swift Current's net and scored the second goal of the game assisted by Matthew McKee. This marker essentially clinched the win for Yorkton.
For some of the Yorkton players on the Dynamo, this is the first provincial title they have won. For coach Wyatt, this was his second provincial win as a bench boss with his first win being the previous day with his U14 boys team. This is a testament to his coaching ability to lead his teams to the level they achieved this weekend.
Yorkton not only took home the trophy cup for winning the U18 Division 2 Provincial championship, but they also were voted by the refereeing staff as the team demonstrating the best sportsmanship/conduct of the U18 teams during the weekend tournament.
