Penalty kicks proved fruitful for a pair of Okotoks United provincial medallists.
With parity ruling supreme at the Alberta Indoor Soccer Provincial championships penalty kicks sealed the fate of Okotoks United’s U16 Tier III and U12 Tier IV teams in favourable fashion with both girls squads bringing home the bronze medal.
“The teams once you get to provincials are all very evenly matched,” said Okotoks United U16 coach Dave McIlveen. “All the games were one goal games, really tight and super high energy.
“We were down to 11 players and didn’t have a very big bench so the girls were working extra hard to keep the shifts really short to stay all over the Southwest United team.”
Okotoks would edge Southwest United 3-2 in six rounds of penalty kicks to take the bronze Sunday at the Calgary Soccer Centre.
Captain Tristan Tate opened the scoring for Okotoks in the first-half before Southwest scored the equalizer in the late stages of regulation.
Netminder Shayla Zary made three saves in penalty kicks and stepped up to ace one of Okotoks’ three conversions along with Jadie O’Bray and Madilyn Predyk to seal the result.
“With 11 players everyone worked so hard,” the coach added. “It was a total-team effort.
“We had less players and a higher work rate than any team we played against. That was the difference.”
Okotoks posted a record of 1-1-1 in round-robin to advance to the playoff round.
Tate tallied the brace in a 2-2 with the Saints. The captain, Predyk and Kaitlyn Lumby scored in a 3-2 win over the CalGlen Storm followed by a narrow 1-0 defeat to Airdrie FC.
After starting the season as a potential Tier IV outfit, Okotoks United found itself in a steady rise culminating in its provincial payoff.
“We didn’t know if we would be able to compete at Tier III or Tier IV,” McIlveen said. “We got better and better as the year went on. Our second half we won more games than the first half and ended up right around the middle of the pack.
“We were definitely peaking at the right time.”
Down in Okotoks one of three hometown teams hosting provincials at the Crescent Point Field House came away with some hardware.
Okotoks’ U12 Tier IV girls edged the CalGlen Strikers 1-0 in penalty kicks to claim the bronze.
“We had to go six players deep in the shootout so it was a nail-biter,” said Okotoks U12 coach Richard Vervoort. “There was a lot of family and friends in the stands. With so many people that we know, the cheering was very loud and it really motivated them.
“It meant a lot.”
Olivia Perrier kicked in the winning goal for United while goalkeeper Olivia Baker backstopped the team amidst the pressure-cooker penalty kick setting.
A defence-first philosophy pushed the squad into the medal round.
Okotoks opened the competition in a 1-0 shutout over Spruce Grove on a Julia Len goal and dispatched GP United by a 3-1 count on the strength of two from Kailey Craig and one from Len to finish on top of its pool.
“The team stuck to its game plan. They’ve been consistent all season so they stuck to what we knew and it worked out for us,” the coach added. “We’re probably more defensive. Our games are usually low scoring and we definitely have a very low goals against.”
Also at the Field House, Okotoks United took fifth place in the boys U16 Tier II ranks and were 15th place finishers in the boys U14 Tier IV division.
Elsewhere, the Okotoks U14 Tier IV girls just missed out on a medal in Calgary as the fourth place finishers while Okotoks’ U12 Tier II boys claimed fifth place at the provincials in Grande Prairie.
For more information on Okotoks United go to okotoksunitedsoccer.ca
