The J-Mack Painting Yorkton United FC Storm under 11 boys soccer team took part in the prestigious Schwan鈥檚 USA Cup International Soccer tournament in Blaine Minnesota from July 18 to July 22.聽 The tournament is the second largest in the world and consisted of 1,168 teams. There were 15 countries represented at the tournament including Brazil, Japan, Sweden, Spain, Uganda and China among others.聽 In addition, 17 states and five Canadian provinces were also represented at the tournament.
The Storm entered the top division in the U11 age group.聽 The first game on July 18 pitted Yorkton against the number one ranked team in the State of Minnesota, the St. Paul Blackhawks. The game started out well for Yorkton but they couldn鈥檛 turn their possession into goal scoring chances.聽 The Blackhawks scored part way through the first half and started to take control of the game.聽 Things went from bad to worse when Yorkton鈥檚 center defender went down with an injury.聽 The Blackhawks put more pressure on and scored two more goals to take a 3 鈥� 0 lead at halftime.聽 In the second half, the Storm started strong again and had a chance to get momentum, but the Blackhawks keeper made a save on the goaline to keep it 3- 0.聽 The teams traded few chances and the Blackhawks ended up scoring another goal to make the final score 4-0.聽 Head coach Andy Wyatt felt the game was tough but a great experience for the boys.
鈥淚 knew we were in tough with our first game being against the top team in the home state of Minnesota.聽 The Blackhawks were probably the favorites to win the tournament and were a great team from top to bottom,鈥� said Wyatt. 鈥淲hat impressed me with our boys was that we didn鈥檛 give up and at times, were the better team.聽 Unfortunately we couldn鈥檛 keep it up for the whole game and the Blackhawks got the deserved win. 鈥�
The Storm鈥檚 second game was on July 19 against a team from Wisconsin, Lakeshore United FC. Yorkton started out strong again and had four or five excellent scoring chances but ended up hitting them wide of the net or right at the goalie.聽 Late in the second half, Lakeshore got a free kick chance and ended up scoring to make the final score 1 鈥� 0.聽 Coach Wyatt said, 鈥渋t was a tough game for our boys to take.聽 All of our missed chances took a toll on the boys and they seemed to lose their confidence.聽 Lakeshore didn鈥檛 put a lot of pressure on us but played great defensively and took the chance when they got it.鈥�
Yorkton鈥檚 third game was later that same afternoon against the Lakeville Wildcats.聽 Yorkton once again started strong, but this time started to convert on their scoring chances. The first goal was scored on a beautiful passing play.聽 Once the first goal went in, the floodgates opened.聽 Tanner Donovel had the hat trick in the game for Yorkton and the final score was 5-1.聽 Assistant coach Benno Looft comments after the game were, 鈥渨e were waiting for the boys to score the first goal because once they did, we knew more would follow. Lakeville was a good team that tied the Lakeshore team we just lost to.聽 But when we started playing the way we could play, we knew we would be tough to beat.鈥�
The last round robin game for Yorkton was Thursday, July 20 against Maplebrook Barnhouse.聽 Once again Yorkton came out fast and the score was 2鈥�0 fairly early in the game. Maplebrook battled back to make it 2-1 at half.聽 They then scored right off the kick off in the second half to tie the game and put Yorkton back on their heels for a bit. The Storm went back to its passing game to take control and put three unanswered goals to make the final score 5 鈥� 2.聽 After round robin play, the J-Mack Painting YUFC Storm finished third in the five-team pool and were seeded in the B-side playoffs.聽
Playoffs started for Yorkton against North Metro Academy from Minnesota. Yorkton came out flying and pressured the Minnesota team from beginning to end.聽 It paid off with a convincing 4-0 win. Assistant coach Katherine McDowell聽 said, 鈥渋t was a hot day but our boys focused on our game plan.聽 We really used our outside midfielders well and passed the ball. Our defence and goaltending was fantastic throughout the game and this was probably our best game of the tournament.鈥�
With the win, Yorkton ended up in the semi-final against the NW Kickers at 7 a.m. on Saturday, July 22. Though an early game, Yorkton were wide awake and scored in the opening five minutes on a beautiful passing play that led to a cross and tap in goal.聽 Yorkton made it 2-0 later in the half and seemed to be in control.聽 The Kickers didn鈥檛 give up though and started to press Yorkton and it paid off with two goals to tie the game.聽 With 5 minutes left, Kale McManus got the ball at the top of the box and put it into the corner to get Yorkton to the finals. Coach Wyatt said, 鈥渢his was a fantastic game back and forth.聽 We started strong and carried the play but the Kickers worked really hard and scored two nice goals to tie it up. I was really impressed with the boy鈥檚 character.聽 After giving up a two goal lead, a lot of teams would panic but our boys kept their heads and kept fighting and were rewarded in the end.鈥�
The B-side final pitted Yorkton against the fourth ranked team in the state of Minnesota, J.O.T.P.聽 The final was played in extreme heat of close to 40 degrees with the humidity. In keeping with recent games, Yorkton once again started strong and scored relatively early and took a 1-0 lead into halftime.聽 The game evened out with both teams getting a few goal scoring chances but nothing materialized until the striker from J.O.T.P. took a long distance shot that unfortunately deflected off another player and went into the bottom corner.聽 Soon after, the referee awarded a penalty shot to the Minnesota team on a tackle in the box by a Yorkton defender.聽 J.O.T.P. put the penalty shot in to make the score 2-1.聽 Yorkton pressed for the equalizer but couldn鈥檛 find the back of the net and ended up the silver medalist. 聽 Coach Wyatt commented on the game, 鈥淛.O.T.P was a great team with a lot of skill but I thought we outplayed them for most of the game. We had our chances but couldn鈥檛 get that second goal.聽 It was tough to lose on a deflected goal and a questionable penalty.聽 I couldn鈥檛 be prouder of the boys though.聽 Our team was made up of players from seven different teams in Yorkton, Langenburg and Regina. We didn鈥檛 have a lot of time to play together prior to this tournament and decided to go for the experience. To walk away silver medalists is incredible and shows the talent we have here in Yorkton and in Saskatchewan is on par with the rest of the world.鈥�
As Coach Wyatt noted, 鈥渃ompeting is one thing but what set this tournament apart was the atmosphere.聽 It was absolutely incredible at the opening ceremonies.聽 There must have been over 10,000 people there. There were fireworks, paratroopers and our team walked out representing Yorkton, Saskatchewan and Canada. 聽
It was a festival atmosphere with people from all over the world making friends and celebrating in the game of soccer.鈥澛� The team would like to thank all of their sponsors, especially J-Mack Painting and Sandblasting for helping these young boys experience a once in a lifetime experience.
