Hapnot Collegiate soccer players earned two top spots in their season-opening tournament last weekend.
Hapnot’s Kings and Kweens soccer clubs headed to Swan River for the Swan Valley Invitational Tournament Sept. 16, opening the team’s respective soccer seasons.
The tournament, the first one for both of the school’s soccer teams this season, would be a four-team meet-up, structured in the form of a one-day round-robin, with each team playing three games in just one day. Once all six scheduled games were played, the top finisher would be considered the tournament winner.
The Kings opened the tournament with a game against the Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Secondary School (DRCSS) Clippers at 10:30 a.m., earning a 3-2 win over their Parkland opponents. After a short layoff, Hapnot was back at it again at 1:30 p.m., facing the host Swan Valley Tigers. In a tight game, the Kings came away with a 1-0 victory, but had little time to celebrate - right after, at 3 p.m., Hapnot would play their northern rivals, Thompson’s R.D. Parker Collegiate. The Trojans had lost to start the day to Swan Valley, but rallied later on to beat DRCSS, meaning the game would be no quick waltz in the rain for the Kings - especially considering there was little downtime between the Kings’ games.
Nonetheless, Hapnot would overcome, beating the Trojans 1-0 and going flawless through their first tournament of the year, taking the win.
This year’s Kings soccer team is an experienced one, with several players who were part of last year’s team that came up just short of a zone title, losing in the final to Frontier Mosakahiken School from Moose Lake. Hapnot’s team this season started the season with no fewer than eight Grade 12 players.
Kweens
The Kweens weren’t quite as lucky, taking a loss to the hosts but still finishing tied for top spot.
Hapnot opened up the girls’ draw with a 1-0 win over DRCSS, but would have to play Swan Valley immediately afterward, which the host Tigers took advantage of, keeping a clean sheet to beat Hapnot 1-0.
Later in the afternoon, Hapnot handed northern rivals R.D. Parker a 3-0 L, setting themselves into second place, pending the results of the tournament’s last game between DRCSS and Swan Valley, which ended with a 2-0 Clippers win.
While DRCSS lost to Hapnot, they would win their other two games, making both teams tied on goal difference. The Clippers scored four goals on the day and gave up just one, the one in their loss to Hapnot, while the Kweens also scored four times and gave up one goal, the deciding goal in their loss to Swan Valley.
While last year’s Kweens team dominated zones on their way to a third-place finish at provincials, this year’s team is missing some key players. Just four Grade 12s are on this year’s Kweens soccer team - Elizabeth Cockerill, Jenna Thompson, Keira Wood and Roxanne Wray.
