Ponoka FC men’s soccer team is hoping to capture the Battle River League cup for a third year in a row.
The team sweated out their semi finals game in near 30-degrees C weather but handily defeated Stettler FC Sunday, Aug. 14 at home with a 6-0 win. Goalie and team captain Wouter Opsteen was pleased with their performance considering it was 4-0 at the half.
The strategy in the second half was to not waste energy. “Just to move the ball around and play a little smarter.”
“We used our wings well today,” said Opsteen. “Down the sides, we used our speed.”
“They play a different style than what we’re used to,” explained right-back Glynn Hurst of Stettler’s strategy.
The team made some necessary defensive and offensive play adjustments while also managing the extreme heat.
“That was part of the plan. Let’s send the balls, let’s save our legs,” said Hurst. “Let the ball do the work and it just worked out well.”
The team has taken a strategic approach to their offense and defense by switching players’ positions throughout the game to make their skills well-rounded. That strategy appears to have worked.
Considering the team hasn’t had a full time coach during most of the games, Opsteen is pleased with how the team has done this season. He would like to see a coach give players further direction but also credits players for their dedication.
Scorers were Jarret Henderson with a hat trick while Elzard Visscher, Christoph Dittmar and Gurjit Sandhu each netted one. Ponoka also managed to snag all three yellow cards from the game with Tyson Klein, Jarret Henderson and Wouter Opsteen each being carded.
Ponoka has a bye this week while two Wetaskiwin teams duke it out in their semi-final match. Ponoks FC will then head to Wetaskiwin for the cup final in two weeks.