Lucas Habib | Special to the 51暗网
Early July 7, Jasper鈥檚 U13 boys鈥� soccer team pulled out of town to head to the rural provincial championships after having won their regional league.
On their cross-province border-to-border pilgrimage, they left the mountains and foothills behind, passed through cities and towns, and drove by canola fields and giant perogies before the team and their dedicated parents finally rolled up on the shores of Cold Lake ready to bring home the gold.
It's been remarkable how these boys have improved through the season. They started out with a lot of raw skill honed on the snowy lunch hour fields at the schoolyard, as I mentioned last week. In the early spring games, most of the players were relying on their pure speed and ball handling technique. Winning their first game of the season 27-0 probably didn鈥檛 help that very much, it just convinced them that they're the GOATs.
But through the year, coaches Paco Artiaga and Max Peregoodoff got them to play more as a team, reminding them that 鈥渢he ball doesn鈥檛 get tired 鈥� you do鈥�. And Provincials was the time to determine if their guidance paid off.
The team marched out onto the field for warmups before their first game wearing their matching Mexicangler hats, a team-building gift from Coach Paco. The game against Battle River got off to a great start. There were some early goals on nice passing plays, showing that they had taken some of their coaches鈥� advice to heart. Everything was clicking and they were finally starting to play as a team. Battle River must have had a Low Flow Advisory as Jasper hung them out to dry with a 6-0 victory.
Jasper鈥檚 second pool game was an early Saturday morning tilt versus the Vegreville Thunder. Again, our boys jumped out to an early lead. Ethan Joyeuse pulled off a spectacular bicycle kick but the keeper was there to stop the ball.
Jasper conceded its first goal of the tournament on a penalty; keeper Kieran Rudge made a bold save but Vegreville was able to score on the rebound. Regardless, Jasper posted another commanding victory, 12-3. Thunderstorm watch cancelled.
Saturday afternoon, Bonnyville was the opponent. As usual, Jasper came out on the offensive, buzzing like bees in their yellow and black jerseys and continuing their progression from hero ball to tiki taki. But they couldn't find the connection on multiple crosses. Max Lescard mixed it up with a long-range banger that found the mesh. Jasper was up 4-1 at the half, but they kept pouring it on. Kiro Bulos received a nice ball in front of the net and used a soft touch to lift it over the keeper. Drayton Valley import Jonny Derbyshire - who joined Jasper just for this tournament - potted a pair to put the boys into untouchable territory.
Another addition to the team for Provincials was U11 callup Zoti Korogonas who held down the right midfield with aplomb. Kean Maniquis really stepped up for this tournament, helping at the backend with Luka Kahlina to repeatedly steal the ball from Bonnyville en route to a 10-1 victory which clinched first place in the pool.
The boys, coaches and parents retreated to Cold Lake Provincial Park for a well-earned afternoon swim to cool off and prepare for the Sunday morning gold medal showdown against the Lacombe Panthers. On Sunday, the Panthers came out roaring, putting Jasper back on their heels. The boys capitalized on their few early opportunities with striker Ethan Gibbons scoring a hat trick in the first half to put them up 3-0. One of those goals came off a nice corner kick from Lescard, a play that hasn't worked much this season but did when it mattered most.
CDMs Calvin Argument and Arie Hofhuis played a pivotal role in this game, forcing turnovers and initiating transitions, while defensive-minded Aeden McBain and Jesse Groth put the body on Lacombe鈥檚 strikers. Keeper Rudge had suffered an injury at the beach the previous evening but showed no after effects as he was called upon early and consistently came up big.
Lacombe finally got on the board late in the first half to narrow the gap. There was some slick ball play from Matteo Artiaga and Ash Habib to progress up the field; Habib finished with a through pass to Na茂m Tremblay who deked the last remaining defender and picked his spot to restore the three-goal lead.
After the break, Arlo Kennedy ripped a left-foot shot to score the first goal of the second half. This human-wildlife conflict ended with the Jasper boys hazing the Panthers with a golden 8-2 victory 鈥� maybe proving that they actually are as good as they seem to think they are. Virtual celebrations were sent from team members whose prior summer holiday plans prevented them from making it to Cold Lake 鈥� Liam Danks, William Routledge and Jaxen Ross.
As Coach Paco said after the game, 鈥渨ith this group of kids you don鈥檛 need much advice, just some little tweaks here and there. They鈥檙e unreal.鈥�
Stay tuned for the gold medal parade down Patricia Street. Well, maybe not. But if you do see a GOAT around town with a medal around his neck this week, give him a fist bump.
