Tigers set to take part in provincial soccer championship
- Details
- Published on Thursday, October 17, 2013
By: Lanny Stewart
myWestman.ca
The Neepawa Tigers girls soccer team will be taking part in the provincial rural soccer championship, which is set to begin on Friday.
The Tigers recently defeated Niverville in a wildcard game to advance to the provincials, which take place in MacGregor and Austin. The Tigers showed a lot of resiliency during the contest, clawing back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits.
"The girls showed a lot of character in coming back twice to win," said Tigers head coach Kaiten Critchlow. "It was an amazing effort and undoubtedly their best game of the season."
The Tigers are a relatively young club led by three Grade 12 players: Christina Paramor, Courtney Pegoski and Taylor Kilborn. Neepawa finished second in the Zone 7 standings, defeating Minnedosa 2-1 in a shootout to advance to the final where they wound up falling 6-3 to the Rivers Rams, who are the defending provincial champions.
Other teams taking part in the event are the Dauphin Clippers, Shoal Lake Sharks and host MacGregor Mustangs.
The Tigers, who are ranked ninth going into the event, will play their first game at 9:30 a.m. on Friday morning against Shoal Lake. If the Tigers are successful, they'll move on to the championship side where they'll meet the No. 2 seed Stonewall Rams later in the day. If the Tigers lose, they'll be relegated to the consolation side for the remainder of the tournament.
Meanwhile, the Neepawa Tigers boys team went through a rebuilding year, says head coach Daryl Critchlow.
"The team showed progress throughout the year and we will hope to continue that growth into next year," he said. "We had great contributions from our Grade 12s this season and I am excited to see the young talent we have return to the field in 2014."
Neepawa struggled throughout the year in zone play, losing all six of their regular season games. In the playoffs, Neepawa lost 5-2 to the Rivers Rams in a semi-final. Rivers would go on to win the Zone 7 championship and, along with host MacGregor Mustangs, will represent Zone 7 at provincials.
Other teams taking part in the provincial championship from the boys side are the Birtle Falcons, Stonewall Rams and Hapnot Kopper Kings (Flin Flon).
