Powell River Cobras U13 girls prevailed 1-0 over Kamloops Blaze in an exciting final at Sunset Park on Sunday, July 10.
Three hundred loud fans gathered to watch the BC Soccer Association Provincial B Cup Championship finalists, who went undefeated in their respective pools, battle for gold on the upper pitch while boys from Prince George and Peace Arch dueled on the lower one.
Cobras huddled prior to the game. “I told them we just had to work hard,” said coach Paul Liknes, “take away their time and space and don’t let them turn with the ball.”
Of the championship game he said, “The girls handled the pressure just like they handled the whole season. We built our team from the back end out and they’ve been like a rock all year.”
His troops stuck to the plan and early in the match had Kamloops running around. This resulted in a hand ball call and a free kick for Powell River from about 22 yards out.
As she has done throughout the tournament, Cobras’ top tournament scorer Brittany Harry was called upon to take the kick and calmly placed it into the lower corner for, what turned out to be, the winning goal.
Play evened out somewhat over the next 20 minutes but on another offensive surge Cobras earned a penalty kick as a result of the pressure and another hand ball.
Looking to give her team some breathing room, Harry put a good shot on net but the ball floated a bit, struck the crossbar and stayed out.
“That did put some pressure on us,” admitted Liknes. “Two goals obviously gives us some breathing room and would have enabled me to give more players more playing time.”
As per BC Soccer, all players saw playing time in the championship but a couple put in extraordinary performances.
In the second half Ricci Leitch became tangled up with a Kamloops striker and fell awkwardly. She was attended to by Dr. Deb Hocking and, in Christine Sinclair fashion, she shook off her injury to finish the game.
Kamloops tried valiantly to crack Powell River’s defence but must have thought it was playing a team who all wore number 13.
The player inside of that jersey, Calli-Ann Abbott, was tireless in her pursuit of the ball and she ran down many Kamloops players who thought they were clear.
Solid play by keeper Elise Hocking and gritty effort of her teammates culminated in a wild celebration over a Kamloops team who reportedly had not lost a game all year.
The team included goalkeepers Destiny Dendewicz and Hocking; Emily Mayenburg, Cassidy Ball, Sydney Liknes, Leitch and Carolyn Smith on backline; Harry, Braea Mayenburg, Ondreah Kristof, MacKenzie Balzan, Sydney Hanson, Santana Huetzelmann, Allahna Somji and Callie McNeil patrolling midfield; and Emily White, Rachel Horspool and Abbott as strikers.
“We’ve been going at it for 11 months and this is what they’ve worked so hard for,” said Liknes.
The Cobras’ victory excitement had to be shared by Powell River Soccer who pulled off a miracle by hosting the event which was supposed to be held in 100 Mile House.
When 100 Mile House realized it didn’t have accommodation for the numbers attending, Powell River Soccer jumped in to save the day.
“I phoned BC Soccer,” said Liknes, “and told them we would do it and they said, ‘are you serious?’ and I said yeah. Two weeks later they phoned back and said it’s yours and we had about two months to set up a tournament that most towns get a year to do.”
The executive gathered and volunteers stepped forward with the result being a tournament that won the praise of officials and participants alike.
“BC Soccer was ecstatic with how it went down,” said Liknes who praised field conditions and the City of Powell River.
Add all of that to many reports of warm hospitality and a little girl from Terrace excitedly saying, “I saw a starfish!” during her stay and there’s no question the tournament soared well beyond everyone’s expectations.
Chip Shots:
Prince George girls defeated West Vancouver 2-1 to win bronze.
Prince George beat Nelson 2-0 in the boys final while Kamloops won bronze 3-0 over Peace Arch. Fair play award for the girls was won by Comox Valley and for the boys by Coquitlam.
Cobras claim provincial championship
by Paul Liknes
Being the first Powell River Youth soccer team to play in the Provincial “B” cup finals at home paid off for the Powell River Cobras U13 girls’ soccer team as they defeated all of their opponents to claim their first provincial title.
With seven out of town girls’ teams from around BC challenging the local Cobras for provincial supremacy, the road to the finals was going to be a tough one. The first step to the gold medal game was a match against North Coast champions, Terrace Kermodies. Powell River opened with a goal in the second minute of play and coasted to a 5-1 victory.
The following day had Cobras facing Cariboo North champions and eventual bronze medalists, Prince George Kodiaks. Once again the local girls started quickly, scoring their first in the fourth minute, allowing them to cruise to a 4-0 win.
The sun came out at beautiful Sunset Park on the third day of the tournament with Cobras scheduled to meet Squamish Fireballs. Due to their two decisive victories and the lack of wins by the other three teams in their division, Cobras had already secured a spot in the gold medal game. The game was huge for Squamish though, as they could advance to the bronze medal match with a victory over the locals. Cobras came out flat and were down a goal at half time. The girls regrouped and came out flying and dominated the second half, scoring three times, handing Squamish a 3-1 loss.
The last stage to Cobras’ fairy-tale season was played in front of over 300 screaming fans against an undefeated Kamloops squad. Both teams were a little hesitant to start but soon found their rhythm and entertained the huge crowd with some fantastic soccer. Powell River broke the ice with a beautiful free kick from 22 yards out giving them a 1-0 lead.
Minutes later they had an opportunity to double that lead as they earned a penalty shot. Unfortunately, the shot rang off the cross bar keeping the score at 1-0. Going into the second half with a one-goal lead the girls knew they were 35 minutes away from being champions.
Kamloops was a quality team and were not prepared to roll over. They showed great skill and determination, however, could not break through Cobras’ strong defensive play. With a couple of minutes left Cobras were given a chance to put the game away, however the 30-yard free kick glanced off the far goal post. As the referee’s whistle blew ending the game the crowd roared their approval as Cobras were crowned the 2011 U13 girls Provincial “B” cup champions.
Starring for Cobras were goalkeepers Destiny Dendewicz and Elise Hocking. The back line consisted of Emily Mayenburg, Cassidy Ball, Sydney Liknes, Ricci Leitch, and Carolyn Smith. Patrolling the midfield was Brittany Harry, Braea Mayenburg, Ondreah Kristof, MacKenzie Balzan, Sydney Hanson, Santana Huetzelman, Allahna Somji and Callie McNeil. Up front the strikers were Emily White, Rachel Horspool and Calli-Ann Abbott.
The management team of Deb Hocking, Greg Mayenburg, Richard Abbott and Paul Liknes were ecstatic with not only the provincial title but the unbelievable season Cobras put together. The girls practiced hard for 11 months, through a very harsh winter, to achieve the ultimate goal, provincial champions.
