The Peter Skene Ogden Eagles Senior Boys soccer team hosted Hope Secondary for an indoor soccer tournament on Dec. 2 at the PSO gym.
Each school fielded a pair of teams and the four squads played the other three in a round-robin format. PSO 1 dominated all three of its games posting convincing victories in all of them.
“Many our boys' soccer team players are enrolled in our new Soccer PE class and they absolutely love indoor soccer and play it on an almost daily basis,” says Eagles coach Sean Glanville.
“They dominated every game and looked the most impressive I’ve seen them in any type of soccer.”
PSO 1 defeated Hope 2, 10-3 in their opening game before dispatching PSO 2 12-3 in an all PSO inter-squad game before downing Hope 1, 14-0 in the final game.
PSO 1 goalkeeper Ty Langton had some jaw-dropping sequences making multiple saves sprawling all over his crease in the last game for the shutout and was solid between the pipes all weekend.
Noah Nicol was the Eagles’ most outstanding player and had 13 goals over the three games, Glanville notes.
Members of the winning PSO 1 squad included Cameron Ardiel, Lukas Waldner, Curtis Craig-Green, Mason Sanders, Reid Davidson, Adam Sullivan, Sean Mason and Michael Nielsen.
PSO 2 was composed of mostly junior players and were a pleasant surprise on the day, says coach Glanville.
They defeated Hope’s top team 5-0 in the opening game. Wyatt Bishop, Dylan Carr, Riley Jones and Julian Bob all scored in the victory and Cooper Uphill picked up the clean sheet in goal.
“Many of the guys I’ve been trying to get to come out for soccer in the past played their first official school soccer on PSO 2 and had a blast, so I think I’ve got them on board for next season.”
PSO 2 dropped their second game to PSO 1, 12-3, and dropped a nail-biter to Hope 2, 5-4 in their final game.
Hope head coach, Jeremy Smith, and their girls team were hosted by PSO for a similar event last March and he mentioned how much the players enjoy the indoor game, Glanville says.
“Jeremy and I spoke that evening and he told me he ordered indoor soccer goals that night and plans to host our girls as part of a big tournament some time in the new year. The indoor game is vital for athletes in the North who don’t have the luxury of year-round soccer to stay sharp and it really benefits our PSO teams for the outdoor season.”