Two Ponoka teams out of four taking part in Camrose Night Classic soccer tournament over the weekend returned to Ponoka with bronze medals, both having narrowly missed the chance to have a shot at the gold medal.
While U16 boys and U14 girls got medals, U12 girls scored two goals in back-to-back games for the first time since the beginning of the season while U14 boys had to contend with one win in their three games.
U16 boys handsomely beat their first opponents from Hinton with a 5-1 score but they were overcome by a very controversial penalty call just 45 seconds from the end of regulation in their second game against Athabasca, which they lost 1-0. In their third game, which was the midnight game, Ponoka boys easily passed by Lac La Biche with 2-1 and won their bronze medal game against Sylvan Lake 2-0 in a tough battle of wills.
U14 girls first crushed Edmonton’s Stingers with a 10-0 score before overpowering Hinton 3-0 with ease. In their third game, Ponoka girls were tied with Vegreville 1-1 and then had to go to a penalty shoot-out to decide the team to play for the gold medal. They lost the penalty shoot-out but won the bronze medal game 5-0 over Vermilion.
U14 boys, for their part, lost their first game to Rocky Knights 8-1 and their second to Whitecourt 3-0, won the third against St. Paul 4-1, but could not make it to any medal game.
U12 girls, on the other hand, were celebrating their improved ability to score as compared to the beginning of the year. In their first game, they lost 6-2 to Vermilion, 5-2 to Rocky and 3-1 to Lac La Biche, but the girls built a lot of confidence during the tournament as they scored in each game.
Other soccer news
Ponoka’s Storm FC won the symbolic 3-0 score when Diablos said they were unable to field a team for last Sunday’s Battle River Men’s League game in Ponoka and they forfeited. Storm FC next plays on Sunday, June 14 hosting Manluk at the high school field at 3 p.m.
In league play, U-16 boys defeated Stettler 5-2 on Tuesday, June 2 and Weatskiwin 2-0 on Thursday, June 4.