CARONPORT, SK- The 2018 PAC men’s and women’s soccer college championships took place over the weekend of October 5th-6th – the event being hosted by Briercrest College. It was a hard-fought tournament between the Briercrest Clippers, Millar Edge and Prairie Pilots, even with less than ideal weather conditions heading to Friday morning. Overall, the Briercrest Clipper menand women’s teams came out on top as PAC champions in the end for a second year in a row.
Day one started off with the men and women’s Clippers and Edge teams battling Friday morning both resulting in 1-1 ties, in exhilarating two-way games with talent and skill to show for all teams. Player of the game for the men’s teams going to #5 Justin Klassen scoring for the Clippers, and for the Edge, #7 Bryan Letts, scoring for the Edge. For the women’s game; player of the game was #17 Allison Behiel for the Clippers, and for the Edge #5 Emily Budd. In the afternoon games, the Clippers and Pilots took each other on resulting in 7-2 and 4-0 wins for the Briercrest teams, the Clippers men and women’s teams both had hat tricks at hand from #1 Suzanne Reimer and #14 Joel Van-Hatten; with Briercrest guaranteeing their spots in the final match.
Day two started off with the semi-final matchup between the Millar Edge and Prairie Pilots. In the men’s game; the Millar Edge battled hard from start to end, dominating the Pilots. The Pilots #13 Issac Gurnett however scored in the first half, and kept the it 1-0, all the way till three minutes left when Millar’s #7 Bryan Letts shot off a rebound and scored, making it a tied game at the end of regulation time. As a result, Millar advanced to the finals with the tie. As for the women’s semi-finals, Prairie and Millar also fought for their place in the championship game. The match was similar to the men’s, with Prairie leading Millar most of the game. Millar however pushed through and tied the game 3-3 to advance to the finals as well.
The finals between the Clippers and the Edge was spectacular, starting off with the woman’s game, it was an exciting game as it went back and forth going both ways on the field. The Clippers and Edge battled hard, however the Clippers out played the Edge near the end. The result was #1 Suzanne Reimer scoring a pair of goals and #12 Laura Korthuis adding to the 3-1 victory. Player of the game for the Clippers was #11 Anita Frei playing a shutdown game. For the Edge, #4 Joelle Wiebe was the player of the game. #1 Suzanne Reimer scored 5 goals throughout the tournament, and was a key player throughout the tournament, playing miraculously, and earning MVP. Suzanne quotes about her team’s performance and atmosphere: “It has been so good being a part of this team with such a great group of girls! Everyone has worked so hard, creating such a positive and competitive atmosphere out on the field. We went into this tournament with our eyes set on first place, and because of the unity of our team, our dedication, and coach Willard, we were able to pull through with a win in the final.”
During the men’s final, the Clippers headed into their match against Millar ready for a hard-fought game, which resulted in penalty kicks. From start to finish both teams played a very enduring game with no goals being allowed in regulation time, leading to 15 minutes of extra time where Millar pressed Briercrest in their end resulting in multiple chances to end the game. Millar however was shutout by Briercrest’s defense and goal keeper. The game went into penalty kicks where both teams keep going back and forth until Briercrest took the lead by one and beat Millar 5-4. Players of the game were goal keeper Will Dmytrow for the Clippers, shutting out the Edge throughout the game taking on many tough shots in the match. For the Edge #11 Chase Petruk who played a strong game, forcing the Clippers to keep up in the remaining minutes.
Tournament MVP for Briercrest was #12 Dawson Leister, Dawson played a great tournament, making lots of opportunities and playing standout games each time. A quote from Dawson is stated here: “there is such a great group of guys on the team. We work well together both on and off the pitch. Teamwork was an important part of how we played and why we won. I have been very blessed to play on this team with these guys.”
Leanne Niemi
Briercrest College