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Golden week for unbeaten under-18 team

Stettler nets league title, qualifies for provincials
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Stettler’s under-18 boys’ soccer team has won the Central Alberta Soccer Association league championship and has qualified for the provincial championship next month in Three Hills. In the front row (from left) are Anthony Vanderburg

The unbeaten Stettler under-18 boys’ soccer team has already had a memorable week.

One day after earning a berth in the provincial Tier 4 championship, Stettler blanked host Lacombe 2-0 on Monday night to win the Central Alberta Soccer Association under-18 league championship.

Nick Yaschuk and Dylan Muhlbach scored the Stettler goals Monday. Even before the game, Stettler head coach Brad Newton had predicted a golden finish for his club.

“We plan on bringing home gold medals,” Newton said en route to Lacombe.

In the provincial qualifying tournament on Sunday in Lacombe, Stettler defeated that same Lacombe team 2-1 in the final.

“The final game against Lacombe was tight,” Newton said. “We took a fairly early lead, and then got another (goal) in the second half.

“Lacombe finally got a goal late in the second half and came on strong, but our defensive wall shut them down.

“The coaching staff is very proud of these young men with their performance on and off the field this year.”

Stettler has earned a berth in the provincial championship tournament, set for the July 6-8 weekend in Three Hills.

“We are definitely going for a provincial gold medal,” Newton said.

Earlier in the qualifying tournament, Stettler tied Rimbey 3-3 and shut out Ponoka 6-0.

“We started out slow against Rimbey,” Newton said. “At halftime, we changed formation and had a bit of a pep talk. The guys took to the field and controlled the game to make a come-from-behind look easy. We outplayed and outscored them the rest of the game.

“The game against Ponoka, we dominated play from the first kickoff. With 10 minutes left in the game, it was delayed due to lightning. With the score 6-0, the Ponoka coaching staff decided to end the game.”