Pincher Creek hosts year end U14 Soccer tournament

• Gold for Elkford's 14 Soccer team

Joey Jackson

Pincher Creek's U14 soccer team finished off their year on somewhat of a high note, finishing third in their year end tournament, which took place on Saturday June 13th.  Pincher won their first game against the Crowsnest Pass a day before, but their two games on Saturday ended up differently.

2015 Pincher Creek U14 Soccer Team

Pincher played their first game of the day against Sparwood, which ended in a 4-2 loss for Pincher.  Pincher had two goals taken away after the linesmen called back a penalty kick that may have gone off the top bar and out of play, the other goal that could have put Pincher ahead 3-2 was called back after an apparent hand ball by Pincher in the 18 yard box. Sparwood then went on the offensive, bringing the pressure back to Pincher's end, and after scoring what was initially thought to be an offside goal, Pincher lost any momentum they had and gave up another goal late in the game. 

Pincher Creek vs Sparwood

Pincher's second game of the day was against Elkford, who would later win Gold.  It ended in a 5-1 blowout for Elkford. However, the score does suggest a different game than what actually happened on the field.  For much of the second half Pincher controlled the game and kept the ball in Elkford's half, but after a few minutes of dominant play by Pincher, Elkford was able to break out and take the ball back to Pincher's end and score 

Pincher Creek vs Elkford

While finishing third out of four teams isn't necessary the best outcome, Pincher coach Kelly Lincez was still happy with her team's performance in the tournament and throughout the season. After the game coach Kelly said “I always like to set goals for my teams, this year specially because they are mostly first-year's, our goal this year was to try and finish either second or third.  It didn't matter what the score of the Elkford game ended up being, that was still the best soccer that I've seen this team play this year so I was happy” 

Coach Kelly's season was still far from over at the end of the U14 tournament, still having two more year end tournaments for other age groups to coach, and being the coach for Pincher's Summer Games teams will also keep her busy for the next few weeks.