Stettler’s U12 boys team demonstrated great determination and skill at the provincials in Three Hills over the weekend, but luck was not on their side and while they returned home without medals, their heads were certainly held high as they were confident that they had played their hearts out.
The first game of the provincials on Friday afternoon July 11, was an easy ride against Ardrossan as the Stettler boys easily surpassed their opponents with a 4-0 win.
In their Saturday game against Bonnyville, they were again the better team on the pitch and won the game with a score of 2-1.
On Sunday morning, July 13 the Edson Blue team proved to be a tough nut to crack. The opponents grabbed and held a 2-0 lead until the last 10 minutes of the regulation when the Stettler boys cranked up the pressure and managed to reduce the lead to one point. In the remaining minutes of the game, there was shot after shot taken by Stettler boys and one of them was deflected from the cross bar stealing the local squad from a chance to going to the penalty shoot-out.
Coach Steve Wildeboer said after the game it was an unfortunate loss.
U12 boys also played the second Edson team, Edson Red for the bronze medal game and lost again with the smallest of margins, by a score of 3-2.
Wildeboer said the loss of one of their key players, Dylan Hilburn, to injury on the second day of the tournament was a key factor in the disruption of their game plan. He said Dylan had a concussion serious enough to stop him from playing against Edson.
Despite the lack of any medals coming come, coach Wildeboer was happy that the boys had improved so much along the season.
“I think played extremely well and they lived up to the expectations,“ he said.
“They improved immensely, we didn’t see a lot of potential at the beginning of the year, but they held together as a team and played as a team. They are one of the best U12 teams I have seen.”