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U16 girls show strength in first game of the season

The first game of the season for the U16 girls Ponoka Storm soccer team was a strong opening with a 5-2 win against Stettler FC.
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Kristen Riguidel of the U16 girls Ponoka Storm team keeps a strong offense as a Stettler FC defense player returns the ball last week in Ponoka. Storm won 5-2.

The first game of the season for the U16 girls Ponoka Storm soccer team was a strong opening with a 5-2 win against Stettler FC.

The girls played May 8 at the Ponoka Secondary Campus soccer pitch and showed their strength against Stettler by playing strong for the entire 90 minutes. Coach Myron Pearman could be heard encouraging the girls to have a strong defense against Stettler and pushing to get the ball in their opponents’ half of the pitch.

“I was very pleased with the girls’ work ethic,” said Pearman.

He said he was unsure how the team would do considering it was their first game of the season but the team proved itself ready for this soccer match against Stettler.

For their part, Ponoka’s U-16 Storm proved that their 3-1 win over the Rocky Mountain House at the Camrose tournament was no accident:  In their first league game at home, they delivered a 7-1 defeat to Rocky Mountain on Tuesday, May 6 with a solid game on both offensive and defensive ends.

Markus Baitinger scored four, and Zane Fessler, Hector Ibarra and James Hemingson added one each to complete the tally.

The victory had its costs, however, with several players receiving injuries, some serious enough to leave the Storm shorthanded in their next game against Wetaskiwin on the opponent’s turf on Thursday, May 8.

Coach Gurjit Sandhu said the boys had managed to deal with their shortened roster for the game and could take out a 2-2 draw from their trip with both scores coming from Markus.

Sandhu said he was particularly happy with the solid defense of the boys.

PONOKA NEWS STAFF