The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Last Saturday, the Hapnot Kweens won the zone 11 soccer championship in Thompson. The Kweens, who went undefeated in the round robin stage with only one goal scored against them, continued their streak of being undefeated this year. The Kweens would meet semi finalists OCN or Thompson in the final, with Thompson coming back from a 3-0 deficit at half time to beat OCN 4-3. This set up the final game which was televised live in Thompson. The game followed the boys final, which saw the Kings defeat the Trojans of Thompson 1-0 in the second overtime period. This closely contested game was watched by a mainly partisan crowd of Thompson fans, however the girls who were waiting to start their final game became vocal, drowning out the home town fans. When the Kings goal was slotted into the Trojan net during a goalmouth scramble the Flin Flon fans were ecstatic. With the stage now set for the girls final, both teams lined up for the game to start, when the whistle blew, the Kweens started nervously. Soon they settled down to play the game plan, moving the ball through midfield to the wingers. With no clear chances in the first five minutes, a Trojan forward, on a lone breakaway, scored the first goal of the game putting the score at 1-0 for Thompson, despite incredible pressure from the Kweens, the score remained the same going into the half time break. The second half saw constant pressure from the Kweens, inevitably the equalizer came from a high shot to the goalkeepers left by Chelsea Vietch. With the score now 1-1 the game was played end to end, until a defensive error by the Kweens allowed a second goal and a 2-1 lead by the Trojans. With only seven minutes left in the game, Zoe Pittet gathered the ball at the half way line, and seeing the Trojan goalkeeper out of position, lobbed the ball over her head to equalize with a superb opportunist goal. The game now went into two periods of sudden death overtime. The Kweens, fired up came out blazing, with Clark and Pawliuk leading the attack, backed up by Podiama and Vietch, but try as they may, the score remained tied after the first overtime period. The second overtime period started dramatically with a head injury to Chelsea Vietch who had to be replaced by Jessie Nygren. With the Kween defence holding firm, the midfield slowly gained control and with only three minutes remaining in the period, a move started by Zoe Pittet, who passed the ball to Michelle Podiama, fed the ball to Nicole Pawliuk deep on the right wing who passed across the face of goal finding Jessie Nygren who scored as the Trojan defenders scrambled to clear their lines. The victory was sweet for the hard working Kweens, joining their victorious counterparts, the Hapnot Kings, in the Provincial tournament to be held in Stonewall in October. These results show what great progress has been made with the soccer program at Hapnot and Flin Flon. If results go our way success in Stonewall is a real possibility. Both the boys and girls go to Stonewall on the 18th and 19th of October to compete in the provincial championships for the second year in a row. If you or any of your family are in Winnipeg during that time, come to Stonewall and support the Kings and Kweens in their quest for victory.
