The Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School (PSO) boy’s soccer team returned with a winning record from their first tournament of the season in Merritt last weekend.
The PSO Eagles won three games and lost two and finished fourth out of seven teams at the Merritt Secondary Invitational.
“The boys did really well this weekend and it was a nice start to the season. We have a lot of offensive talent and scoring 12 goals this weekend was awesome,” said Eagles’ coach Sean Glanville. “Our key concern as in past years, we don’t have a proper goalie and the position is voluntary and we allow too many preventable goals. We are right there with the top teams and could win some of these tournaments if we can somehow shore up our goaltending situation.”
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The Eagles dropped their opening game 4-2 to eventual champions, Pemberton. Cameron Ardiel scored two great goals on runs through the middle to put PSO up 2-0 at halftime. Unfortunately, four unanswered goals from Pemberton in the second half handed PSO the loss.
In game two the Eagles bounced back to earn a 5-1 victory over Hope Secondary. Nolan Nicol led the offence with a pair of goals with Adam Sullivan, David Weis and Florian Holzapfel adding singles.
In game three, the Eagles won in a shootout over Mount Currie. The Eagles trailed 2-1 late but were able to draw a penalty shot which Cameron Ardiel converted to force the shootout. Julian Bob had the Eagles’ other goal in the contest. In the shootout, all five PSO shooters scored including Ardiel, Nicol, Sullivan, Holzapfel and then Weis netting the winning shot. Eric Schuurman filled in as the goaltender and made a decisive save for PSO.
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The Eagles battled hosts Merritt in game four and earned a 3-1 victory with Nicol netting two goals and Weis the other. PSO finished the round robin portion with a 3-1 win-loss record. Unfortunately, the Eagles narrowly missed a spot in the gold medal game and were third highest on points and played their final contest for third and fourth.
In the third place game, the Eagles fought hard but had a few unlucky breaks and eventually dropped the contest 3-0 to Abby Christian.
“Adam Sullivan, Cam Ardiel and Nolan Nicol are back for their final Grade 12 year and these three will be looked to carry the team. Our most pleasant surprise was David Weis who really impressed this weekend,” said Glanville. “We also had many juniors playing in their first tournaments such as Florian Holzapfel and Leandro Lang who should have a bright future with the squad.”
Other members of the Eagles who made great contributions included Stephen Lange, Ben Holleywell, Muhammad Oher, Josh Hutchins, Leandro Lang, and Stephen Theodore-Jensen.
Next up for the Eagles is a tournament this Thursday and Friday co-hosted by Mount Currie and Pemberton.
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