Stepping up a tier and stepping up when it mattered most.
Okotoks struck gold while moving up one tier to capture the Anthem United Communities Cup U15 girls Tier II title 1-0 over Foothills after a nail-biting penalty kick round on Jan. 19 at the Crescent Point Regional Field House.
“It was a really even game, we probably dominated the ball 60-65 per cent of the time, but couldn’t quite find our breakthrough, but we came through in the end,” said Okotoks United coach Matt Lumsden. “As I said to the girls when we were doing it, this is for their own provincials in a couple weeks time in March, this is a dry-run for if they have that experience with the pressure.”
Goalkeeper Maria Regner ensured the hosts were in safe hands in the pressure-cooker five-round penalty shootout, making two big saves on five kicks.
Okotoks’ Julia Len clinched the victory with a no-doubter in the fifth round.
“It’s really stressful, you have to tune out the whole world,” said Regner. “Usually, their body and how they’re facing, you have to see which way they’re angling to shoot on.”
It was the second meeting in as many days between the local rivals. Okotoks got by Foothills 3-0 in their round-robin opener and found scoring chances tougher to come by in the championship match.
“They had some really hard defence,” said Okotoks’ Gracyn Sekura. “We just had to keep putting pressure on them and try our best to get the ball out of our end and to keep it in their end.”
Pressure was the gameplan as Okotoks worked collectively to win the territorial battle all weekend.
“One thing they were working on was their press in the last third of the field,” Lumsden said. “We worked on limiting space and time for the opposition in their own area and they did that phenomenally well.
“Most of the goals they pulled were from turnovers forced from the other team not being able to get out. That was a real positive.”
United advanced to the championship match with a 2-1 record in round-robin, defeating Airdrie FC 7-2 and losing a tight 2-1 result to the WCU Warriors.
“It feels pretty good since it’s a tier higher,” Regner said. “And it’s good to win your home tournament.”
United, a Tier III team made up of eight Okotoks and eight Mckenzie United players in league play, opted to play up a level and proved it could more than hang with their Tier II combatants.
Also in Communities Cup action, Okotoks earned a fifth place finish in the girls U17 Tier II division while playing up a tier. Okotoks closed the competition with a 2-1 win over Lethbridge. Okotoks finished sixth in the girls U13 Tier III division.
This marked the second of four weekends of soccer for the Anthem United Communities Cup as the club celebrates the fifth year of the tournament with another milestone.
“We’ve got 201 teams, we reckon close to 3,000 players and we reckon about 10,000 people through the door of this facility,” said Lumsden, the technical director for Okotoks United. “We’re the biggest club run event, definitely in Alberta, and most likely Canada just because not many other clubs indoor boarded soccer at the size that we are. It’s a real kudos to us and the town to host such a prestigious event.
“It’s grown 25 per cent this year with the extra weekend and it’s grown every year in its five years.”
The Jan. 24-26 weekend will feature the boys U11 to U17 ranks with six Okotoks teams in competition in the 12 divisions. The Jan. 31- Feb. 2 tournament showcases the Tier V divisions in both boys and girls.
Okotoks will also be hosting the provincials in both U15 Tier III and U17 Tier III, March 13-15 back at the field house.
For more information on the Anthem United Communities Cup visit okotoksunitedsoccer.ca
