Rain was the only Storm to really hit the pitches at a pair of soccer provincial tournaments in spite of some great efforts by two local teams.
For the U19 girls, the team consisting of head coach Cal David, assistant coaches Tianna Kinnaird and Nicole Lagarde, manager Brenda Hutniak and players Emma Bendera, Erick Geneblazo, Arianna Ahtila, Hailey Pettersen, Bobbie Dykman, Brooklyn Budd, Ava Yeo, Gina Mercer, Madison McLaren, Kianna McLean, Rhiannon Zimmer, Zoe Pitre, Shanelle Remanda, Lezah McGinnis, Leah Sterling-Jensen, Rachel Ware, Rheonna Morrow, Elaine Hutniak and Haley Hoffman finished up fifth at the six-team event in Rocky Mountain House July 5 to 7.
The tournament ended on a positive note as the Storm defeated Sherwood Park 2-1 for fifth place. The round robin portion was as successful with the local squad falling 2-0 to Olds then drawing 1-1 with Bonnyville. The results weren’t enough to gain a spot in the medal round, as Bonnyville ended up with a slightly better goal differential.
David explained the season was difficult, with needed to combine the U17 and U19 players into one team as there were not enough to form teams in each division.
“Creating the one team did though give our young girls a place to play,” he said.
“We did win our last league game of the season against Rocky Mountain House to give us the championship, in a league that unfortunately only had two teams. That said, the girls showed true grit and determination this year, overcoming the fact that we were the most junior team against all of our opponents and that by employing a strong ethic of teamwork and common goals can breed success.”
As for the U17 boys, the club lost all three of its round robin games in Fort Saskatchewan. The club were shutout 3-0 by Bonnyville, then 2-0 by Hinton and followed those with a 7-2 loss to Athabasca.
That pitted them against Central Peace, whom they blanked them 8-0 to wind up in seventh place.