Huron Expositor, 2006-07-26, Page 12Page 12 July 26, 2006 • The Huron Expositor
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U 11 soccer team wins championship tournamen
Jeff Heuchert
Upon securing a victory in the
finals of their year-end champi-
onship tournament, the Seaforth U-
11 soccer teams' players proceeded
to take part in the traditional cham-
pionship celebration by dumping
their water bottles on coach John
Taylor.
The celebration was not only
marking their first place finish, but
an undefeated season 18-0, includ-
ing the regular season, Strawberry
Fest tournament earlier this month
in Lucknow and the championship
tournament.
"They all played as ateam,"* says
Taylor. ."We'd talked about winning
the whole thing all year. They all.
knew what they had to do."
And what they had to do was win
five games, beginning against a
team from Clinton on Wednesday.
After a 2-0 victory over them, the
U 11's played a team from Goderich,
winning 3-0.
In the quarter -finals on Saturday
they played Wingham, winning 4-0
Their semi-finals match with a
different team from Clinton proved
to be a much more difficult one.
"We were down 1-0 and scored on
a free kick," says Taylor. "And then
scored on a penalty kick."
Seaforth defeated a team from
Goderich 7-1, to capture the cham-
pionship.
"It's quite the improbable thing,"
says Taylor, who notes that his
Cheryl Heath photo
A player from Clinton gives chase to Jordan Pepper of the Seaforth U11 soccer squad during their opening game of the
championship tournament in Clinton Wednesday evening. Seaforth won the game 2-0.
team, which consisted of 21 players,
had 15 11 -year-olds - more than any
other team.
"I could throw out two good lines.
There was never any weaknesses,"
he says.
"But they did have to work hard,"
he notes, giving their semi-finals
1
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game against Clinton and the finals
of the Strawberry Fest tournament
final, in which they came back from
one -goal deficits, as examples.
"They showed determination and
resilience all year long," he says.
What was a strength for the team
this year - having a large contingent
of 11 -year-olds - could be a weak-
ness next year as they move up a
level.
However, Taylor says with, "an
excellent" house league system in
place, there are many talented play-
ers ready to move up to the U11
squad.
And, while his attention will soon
turn to hockey, Taylor has a bit of
time to savour a remarkable season.
"It's been a phenomenal year. No
matter what level you're at, that's
pretty amazing," he says.