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.
After winning their first ever Zone 11 Championship banner, the Hapnot Kings soccer team attended the Manitoba Rural Boys Soccer Provincial Championships in Steinbach, October 15 and 16. In their first game of the tournament, played against Lorette, Hapnot started out strong but missed a couple of opportunities in the first three or four minutes of the game. Lorette had the advantage with the wind at their backs in the first half, and made it 1-0 on a shot from the right win which the keeper had no chance. Except for the one goal, Hapnot's defence played solid and composed by keeping Lorette's three main players from the score sheet. Flin Flon had a couple more chances in the first period, but couldn't find the back of the net. With the defence playing well, Hapnot's midfield and strikers kept pressing and finally scored on a Marco Rapp corner kick with 10 minutes to play. Both teams dug deep down for the remainder of the game. When time expired and the game was still tied, a 15 minute overtime was played, with both teams pressing hard for the golden goal. With still no winner after overtime, each team picked five shooters for the shoot out. The shoot out came down to Hapnot's final shot, and the Lorette keeper made an outstanding diving save to preserve the win. "Both teams were battle-worn and covered in mud from head to toe as they were shaking hands," said coach Hugo Sandherr. "They knew how hard they tried in a very hard fought soccer game." Flin Flon had just over an hour before their next game because of the overtime and shoot out. They lost their second game by a score of 1-0 against a Winkler team that has won the Provincials three times in the last six years. Winkler came out strong from the first whistle and the Hapnot defence did all they could to keep the ball out of their end. Winkler hit the posts and crossbar before putting the first goal into an open net. At half-time the Hapnot boys were really bruised and hurting, but they weren't ready to give up yet. They got the Winkler team back on its heels a few times before the game was over, making for another exciting finish. Flin Flon had only played five games leading up to the Provincials. Hapnot played two games in Swan River early in the season, using mostly junior players. They took one on the chin, losing 8-3 in the first game, and beat them 4-1 in the second game. Swan River ended the season by winning the Provincial Championships. Hapnot then beat MBCI and Joe A. Ross 5-0 and 3-1 respectively. In order to advance to win the Zone 11 Championships and advance to the Provincials, Hapnot had to get through Thompson, who they beat 3-0. "The season was short but fulfilling," said Sandherr. "We finished with four wins and one loss before provincials. In our last four games our defence allowed only three goals. It was a good season and the boys finally got that zone banner."
