Led by golden performances from Kelowna’s U18 boys and U16 girls, United/Junior Heat teams closed out the 2017 season with five medals at the B.C. Soccer provincial championships.
Here’s a look at how Kelowna-based teams fared:
• The United U18 boys won the gold medal at the Les Sinnott Memorial Provincial B Cup in Vernon.
Kelowna United went a perfect 4-0 at the tournament, defeating the South Burnaby Strikers 3-0 in Sunday’s final. Connor Sandrin scored twice in the deciding game. Kelowna also recorded wins over Nelson (4-0), Coquitlam (2-1) and West Coast Auto (5-0), with Taylor Piche and Quinn Large each contributing two goal games.
The U18 champs are: Jason Hesketh, Turner Woodroff, Mitch Sloan, Clarke Larsen, Nick Balkan, Ben Lommer, Brady McMechan, Quinn Large, Connor Yendley, Charlie Martin, Ethan Attwood, Noah Dueck, Kevin Kentel, Liam Gallagher, Connor Sandrin, Mason Chidlow, Andrew McDuff, Taylor Piche, coach David Lommer, and trainer Mark Gallagher. Missing: Alec Stewart and Harrison deHaas.
• In Surrey, the United U16 girls completed an undefeated season with a gold medal effort at the Provincial B Cup.
Kelowna clinched the B.C. title with a 1-0 win over the VFC Devils in the final. Faith Tazelaar earned the shutout, while Sarah Gervais scored the lone goal. United also defeated Penticton 2-1, Gorge FC 4-0 and Langley United 4-2.
The U16 Provincial B Cup champs are: Amy Drew, Dominique Spooner, Kassie Zukowski, Katrina Schrod, Logan Finley, Catherine Howe, Chelsea Cristofoli, Gracie Matheson, Sarah Gervais, Georgia Lawrence, Tiernan Hickson, Emily Metz, Annabelle Perry, Hailey Wright, Faith Tazelaar, Kaitlin Smith, Sammi Krupka, and Teagan Milligan, coach Mike Smith, manager Tyna Trefry and assistant manager Treena Krupka.
• The KU/Junior Heat U13 boys captured a silver medal at the Provincial A Cup in Surrey. The Kelowna boys reached the final game where they were defeated 3-2 by Coquitlam Metro Ford. Earlier in the provincials, United/Junior Heast defeated Burnaby 1-0 and Fraser Valley 1-0.
• The Kelowna U15 boys brought home bronze from the Provincial B Cup, going undefeated in all four games. United defeated the Columbia Valley Titans 6-2, North Coquitlam Eagles 2-0 and played to a 1-1 draw with Kamloops.
In the third-place final, Kelowna edged Powell River 1-0.
• The United U15 girls earned a bronze medal at the Provincial B Cup in Surrey. Kelowna finihsed off an unbeaten weekend with a 4-1 win over the Shuswap Selects, with Kaley Krivoshein scoring twice.
In pool play, Kelowna defeated Terrace 1-0 and played to draws with both Langley and Surrey.
