It was a busy weekend for high school soccer teams. Four local teams went to provincial competitions and two local teams brought home the championship.
At the field in Lake Lenore, the Lake Lenore and Middle Lake seniors boys competed against Meadow Lake, Cando, Osler, Makwa Sahgaiehcan from Loon Lake, Cheif Little Pine from Little Pine Reserve and Stobart from Duck Lake.
The senior girls from Humboldt and Lake Lenore travelled to Waldheim to compete against Waldheim, Cando, Osler, Stobart from Duck Lake, Lloydminister Holy Rosary and Martensville.
Lake Lenore already had a bye in for last weekends Senior Boys Provincials by hosting but they also earned a place in the tournament when they defeated Humboldt in the Regionals on Oct. 23-24. Middle Lake won their spot by defeating
Muenster in a shoot out and Lake Lenore in overtime during this regional tournament.
Middle Lake Coach Dawn Cleveland says the road to Provincials was a hard faught one for the Middle Lake team. The seniors boys league could have gone either way with strong showings from both Humboldt and Muenster.
“It’s never a sure win with anybody, we’ve always had to work for everything.”
Cleveland says they focused this year on conditioning and it has paid off with the boys getting in better shape for the tough matches.
Next year will see a significant change in the team with six boys graduating this year but strong grade 9’s joining the fold, says Cleveland.
Lake Lenore Coach Curtis Strueby says that Middle Lake and Lake Lenore are pretty evenly split with two wins each against the other and a tight game during regionals. Same thing could be said for Muenster, says Strueby.
“Muenster, in my opinion could easily be here. Probably desearves to be here as much as us and Middle Lake. It’s just one of those things, you’re in a tough area.”
The league is even tougher when you include other extra curicular activities into the mix. Strueby says he sees it every year.
“They’re all involved in everything,” says Strueby, “A lot of them ran in Cross Country. We go pretty hard with that as well. It’s a big committement with that and soccer.”
It’s a lot of hard work and people do not realize the hard work the players put into their team, says Strueby.
“It doesn’t just happens, it’s all because of their dedication and their work ethic.”
When it comes to his grade 12s, Strueby contributes a lot of credit to Quinn Voz and Adam Gerwing.
“You always look to your grade 12 to pave the way for the rest of the kids and they’ve done a great job.”
Strueby says he hopes the two had a memorable last high school soccer weekend.
Both Lake Lenore and Middle Lake won their matches to meet in the final. Middle Lake ended up taking the title 2-1.
The Lake Lenore and Humboldt senior girls both won their regional semifinals against Muenster and Middle Lake respectively to meet in the regional final on Oct. 23-24 regional tournament. There Lake Lenore beat Humboldt 2-0 but both teams went to the weekend provincial tournament.
Lake Lenore Coach Petra Hogeman says her girls played hard all season, only taking a loss from Middle Lake in league and Waldheim in a tournament.
“It was a good wake up call when we did lose it but otherwise, our girls are very strong.”
Hogemann’s team faced the same challenge that Strueby mentioned about the boys, just a lot of other things going on and not a lot of players. With dance, drivers ed and other things going on, Hogemann says she found her team without a lot of subs.
This just made them better, says Hogemann.
“That builds their endurance,” laughs Hogemann.
This weekend, they were at their full strength of 11 players.
Beth Prodahl and Cathy Mollenbeck are Hogemann’s grade 12s and she says they are doing their part as team leaders.
“Beth plays forward and Cathy plays defense and they take charge of those positions.”
Again, it was a local battle by the championship game with both Humboldt and Lake Lenore taking all their matches to go up against each other in the end. Lake Lenore took the title with a 2-0 win.
All three coaches say the parents have been an amazing part of the year and have helped out a lot.
“From everything from setting up a consession stand to watching and driving kids all over the province for all sports we do, it makes my job a lot easier and enjoyable.” Says Strueby.
