The Hapnot Collegiate Kings and Kweens both wrapped up tremendous soccer seasons by performing well at the Provincial High School Soccer Championships in MacGregor on October 17.
The Kings team, under the direction of Tyler Kittle, opened well with a dominating 7-0 win over the Dauphin Clippers squad.
After a short two hour break, the team was back in action against the second ranked MacGregor Mustangs.
The Mustangs – who would – finish second overall in the province jumped out to an early lead and the Kings were not able to make up the deficit, falling 3-1 in a very fast match.
The loss relegated the Kings to the consolation semi-final, where they went up against the Niverville Panthers.
With two starting players injured, the task fell on goalie Kyle Reierson to hold down the fort for the Kings.
He played the game of the season for the squad.
Two 45-minute halves and 15 minutes of overtime solved nothing and the team went to penalty kicks.
The Panthers scored one extra goal in the shootout and went on to capture the consolation championship.
The Kings finished the season with an 11-2 record.
Kweens strong
On the women’s side, the Kweens started off strong dispatching the host Mustangs squad 3-1.
After a short break, they squared off against the top seeded Northland Parkway Eagles from Winkler.
Down 3-0 early after a slow start, the Kweens fought back on goals by Trinity Beheyt and Samantha Yewchuk to get the score to 3-2.
The game went back and forth, but the Kweens weren’t able to hold on against the Eagles, who were playing their first game of the day.
The final score was 5-2 for the Eagles who, went on to capture third place in the province.
The Kweens then moved over to the consolation semifinals, meeting the Neepawa Tigers for a second time.
This game began to look like a repeat early, as the Kweens went up 3-0 by the half.
The Tigers fought back early in the second half, tying the game and then forging into the lead with 20: to go.
Both teams then threw defense out the window and went on a goal scoring spree.
When the smoke cleared, Hapnot had emerged victorious with a 7-5 win.
The win moved Hapnot into the Consolation final where they met up with the Sharks from Shoal Lake.
The Sharks jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on the strength of two shots from their talented striker, who accounted for all of the Shoal Lake scoring.
Once again, the Kweens found their stride and evened the game by half time.
In the second half, with a few adjustments and solid contributions from their bench, the Kweens cruised away to a well-deserved 6-3 victory and the consolation championship.
This game ended a very successful 11-2 season for the team and marked the Kweens highest finish in many years at provincials.
As a young team, the Kweens only lose two players this year, graduating two strong defenders in Janelle Wride and Krista Beck.
Conditioning now begins for next season in the hopes that the Kweens can make their way back to the provincial tournament once again.
The Hapnot Kings and Kweens worked hard for their entrance into the soccer provincials. The Kings posed for a picture from their Zone win that earned them a spot in the Provincial tournament.
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