Stettler was well-represented on the Central Alberta Soccer Association team that captured the silver medal in the under-16 girls’ division at the Red Deer City Classic tournament last weekend.
Five players from Stettler were part of the select squad, which stepped up to the Tier 3 level after the Tier 4 season to extend its play beyond mid-July.
Carly Armstrong, Jillian Broemling, Grace Chapman, Breanna Davis-Hall and Melanie Verhoeven were the Stettlerites with the Central Alberta team, which also included eight players from Ponoka and three each from Lacombe and Sylvan Lake.
“To unite the team, the girls named themselves La Pottler Lake,” said assistant coach Shelley Davis-Hall of Stettler.
“The team was at a disadvantage, as they only had the opportunity to practise three times as a team before playing in the tournament. So accomplishing what they did was a remarkable feat.”
CASA lost to NCU Juventus — a Tier 2 team from Calgary — in a marathon final that was scoreless after regulation time. In the shootout, the teams were tied 5-5 before “La Pottler Lake” fell 7-6 in sudden-death penalty kicks.
In earlier action, CASA tied Big Country 1-1, blanked Camrose’s Tier 3 team 1-0, and played to a 1-1 draw against Juventus in a preview of the final.
“It is pretty amazing what this team accomplished in such a short period of time,” said coach Davis-Hall. “To beat Camrose, the team representing CASA at Tier 3 provincials, two out of three games, and drawing a Tier 2 team from Calgary once and losing to them in penalties shows how much talent, skill and competitive drive these girls have.”