YORKTON – The Sacred Heart Saints defeated the Lake Lenore Lancers in the gold medal game in held in Humboldt the weekend of Oct. 27th to 28th.
After a successful weekend at 4A Boys’ Soccer Regional finals in Moose Jaw on October 20-21, the Region A champions, the Yorkton Sacred Heart Saints, travelled to Humboldt this past weekend for the 4A Boys Soccer provincial championships.
The Saints faced the Humboldt Collegiate Institute Mohawks in their opening game on Friday. Cold and windy conditions and a snowy soccer pitch did not hinder the Saints team, who opened scoring to take an early 1-0 lead.
The Mohawks were able to even the score shortly afterwards when a miscommunication in the Saints defense provided the Mohawks with the opening they needed. The Saints rallied quickly to retake control of the game, building up a 4-1 lead by half-time.
The second half of the game saw the Saints dominate play in the midfield, effectively shutting down their opponents’ attacks. The Saints’ nimble and controlled play overwhelmed the Mohawks defense, who conceded a total of four penalty kicks over the course of the game. By the end of regulation time, the Saints came away with a commanding 8-1 win over the Humboldt Mohawks, qualifying themselves for the gold medal game on Saturday.
In the gold medal game, the Saints faced the Lake Lenore Lancers, who had defeated the Moose Jaw Central Collegiate Institute Cyclones in their Friday game in a penalty kick shootout.
Overnight snow created poor pitch conditions, as the snow had been packed from the earlier bronze medal game, creating a slippery and unpredictable surface. Despite the weather and pitch conditions, the Saints focused on controlling play and dominating ball possession, creating numerous scoring opportunities in their opponent’s end. However, the Saints struggled to score throughout most of the first half despite their best efforts. With ten-minutes remaining in the first half, the Saints finally beat the Lancers’ keeper, taking a 1-0 lead into half-time.
In the second half, the Lancers threw everything they could muster at the Saints, whose midfield and defense withstood those efforts with determination. Once again focusing on controlling play and out-maneuvering their opponent, the Saints were able to score twice more in the second half, taking a commanding 3-0 lead into the final 20-minutes of play. By the end of regulation time, the score remained unchanged, and the Saints were crowned 4A Provincial Champions.
The Saints team is relishing the gold medal win, having taken silver in the past two provincial competitions against Moose Jaw Central.
“It feels amazing, especially since this team has won silver two years running. They were really hungry for that gold today, and they delivered for themselves and each other,” said Saints’ coach Sebastian Prost.
