Past shortcomings turned jubilant milestones for the Middle Lake Avengers boys soccer team on Saturday, as they captured the provincial title with a 2-1 win over Lake Lenore.
Avengers coach Dawn Cleveland was thrilled to finally capture the crown.
"It feels really good. We had got silver the last two years and we were hoping to get gold this year. We knew it was going to be tough, playing against Lake Lenore, our all-time rival that is always close games with them every year."
One of those close games was seven days prior to the provincial final, as the Avengers edged the Lancers in overtime to win the regional final.
Cleveland continued about the team's gameplan.
"We had to be first to the ball and we had to go hard. We had to always be moving out there. Lake Lenore is such a strong team that we had to be moving all the time, and that's what we told the boys the whole time."
As a high school senior, the best way to conclude your high school career is to go out with a win, as Kyle Wehage states.
"It's amazing. We had second for the past how many years, and to finally get gold, it feels amazing. A great way to end the season."
Another Grade 12 member of the Avengers, Craig Martinka added that they knew that their effort had to be up the whole weekend.
"We knew it was going to be tough all weekend with good teams coming from all across Saskatchewan, and we knew we had to play hard and not give up game in and game out."
The 1A provincial finals both wound up being re-matches of the Horizon Central regional finals, as in Waldheim, the HCI Mohawks girls battled the Lake Lenore Lancers.
It was another closely contested battle, with the Lancers winning the provincial championship by a 2-0 score.
--
More from Avengers coach Dawn Cleveland, along with Wehage and Martinka can be found below.
Thu, Apr 18, 6:30 PM
Full-time, Hourly, Labour
