PONOKA NEWS STAFF
It looked like Ponoka’s representatives in the Battle River Men’s Soccer League, the Storm FC, needed only to gather an adequate number of players to field a team to maintain their pursuit of a third league championship when they convincingly defeated the Pylons of Wetaskiwin by a score of 10-1.
In the low intensity game, in which the Storm scored almost at will with only one substitute to finish the 90 minutes, Ponoka’s Eric Ehscheid scored six goals with the tally being completed by one goal each from Thomas Hefti, Gurjit Sandhu, Glynn Hurst and Nathan Huzar.
The Storm have a bye this weekend and will travel to Stettler on June 26 to play their next game.
U12 boys win gold
In minor soccer, there was a championship trophy brought to town by the United U12 team who won their gold medals at the Millet tournament without a single loss. They defeated Wetaskiwin 6-1 in the final match.
As for the U18 boys, they took part in a tournament for a higher tier of soccer over the weekend and they won their first game and lost the last two. But head coach Gurjit Sandhu said the defeats were mostly because several key players either couldn’t make it to the tournament or had to withdraw in the later games due to injury or health issues or logistical problems. He added it was a valuable experience for the team to experience competition at a higher level.
League play nearing end
In regular league play, most of the Ponoka teams proved unbeatable for yet another week.
On Monday, June 6, U14 girls lost to Stettler in an away game, with only point for the local girls scored by Brooklyn Budd.
On the same day, U14 boys travelled to Sylvan Lake for a rescheduled game and returned with a comfortable 6-3 win, scorers being Niklas Schlak, JanHarm Bakker and Jayce Van Scheik with two goals each.
U18 girls had their game rescheduled to Monday, June 20.
U18 boys repeated their feat against Camrose at home just like they did on the road the previous week, winning 6-0. Scorers were Zane Fessler (2), Dillan Bouma, Jarret Henderson, Hector Ibarra and Lewis McDowell.
On Tuesday, June 7, Ponoka U12 United boys won over Red Deer #1 with a score of 9-3 with goals by Luis Baitinger (4), Levin Spitzer (2), Ben Hinton, Brayden Lubach, Denzell Wolfe.
In the other U12 boys’ game, Ponoka “Y” beat Rimbey by a score of 2-0 with scores coming from Cameron Haagsma, Drayden Ramage.
On the same day, U16 girls drew 1-1 with Camrose in away game with Ponoka’s goal coming from Emma Bendera.
On Wednesday, June 8 U14 girls lost to Camrose at home with a score of 2-1 with the only point for Ponoka side coming from Brooklyn Budd.
The same day, Ponoka U14 boys had a handsome win over Stettler: 6-2. Scorers for Storm were Niklas Schlak and JanHarm Bakker with three goals each.
Again on Wednesday, U18 boys sent Wetaskiwin home empty- handed with a comfortable 4-2 win over the visitors. Lewis McDowell scored three times and Hector Ibarra completed the tally.
On Thursday, U12 girls lost 4-0 to hosts Stettler while U12 boys shattered Blackfalds on the road with a 12-1 victory. Scorers for the United U12 team were Ben Hinton and Brayden Lubach, four each with Levin Spitzer (3) and Luis Baitinger. The other U12 boys team lost to Camrose on the road with a score of 7-0.
U14 boys for their part overpowered hosts Wetaskiwin on their own turf 5-0 with scores coming from JanHarm Bakker (2), Niklas Schlak, Randall Dijkstra, Jace Van Scheik.
U16 boys lost 3-2 to Rocky Mountain House at home on Thursday, June 9 with scores for the hosts coming from Shawn Pallin and Tyler Lagarde.