Two new champions were crowned at the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association A-AAA soccer provincials in Stonewall, where the Morden Thunder won the girls’ title and the Garden Valley Zodiacs claimed the boys’ banner on Saturday, Oct. 11.
It was an exciting, hard-fought weekend across both brackets. Weather was generally favourable, though strong winds and intermittent rain rolled through during Saturday’s finals.
Morden edged the W.C. Miller Aces 1-0 in the girls’ final at Veterans Memorial Sports Complex after opening with a 5-1 quarter-final win over the host Stonewall Rams and blanking the MacGregor/William Morton (co-op) Mustangs 5-0 in the semifinal. W.C. Miller advanced to the championship match by outlasting Garden Valley 3-2 in a fast-paced semi. Garden Valley took bronze with a 3-0 win over MacGregor/William Morton, while the Hapnot Kopper Kweens rallied past Niverville 2-1 to secure the consolation plaque.
On the boys’ side, Garden Valley outlasted the Niverville Panthers 3-2 in overtime in the final. The Zodiacs powered through a 10-0 quarter-final over the Swan Valley Tigers and a 7-0 semifinal against the Morweena Raptors. Niverville advanced by defeating R.D. Parker 3-0 in the quarters and W.C. Miller 2-1 in the semifinal. Morweena topped W.C. Miller 2-1 to earn bronze, and Stonewall claimed the consolation final 3-1 in overtime over Minnedosa after a 3-0 consolation semifinal win against R.D. Parker.
The two-day championship, staged Oct. 10–11 by Zone 5, opened with ceremonies Friday morning on Cooke Field and featured eight-team brackets for both girls and boys.
Awards
Girls MVP: Kapri Curry (Morden).
Girls all-stars: Maria Bergen (Garden Valley); Mekdes Wall (Garden Valley); Vanessa Franz (Garden Valley); Kate Sawatsky (W.C. Miller); Eliana Gensa (W.C. Miller); Natalie Enns (W.C. Miller); Molly Harman (W.C. Miller); Bella Ritchie (Morden); Kaydence Wiens (Morden); Logan Speers (Morden); Svana Gillis (Morden).
Boys MVP: Joel Braun (Garden Valley).
Boys all-stars: Jamin Penner (Morweena); Ethan Kornelsen (Morweena); Abdul Hamam (W.C. Miller); Rikhael Pather (W.C. Miller); Chase Hopkins (Niverville); Cameron Mitchell (Niverville); Gianpaolo D’Amico (Niverville); Antonio DaPalma (Niverville); Noah Vanden Berg (Garden Valley); Elias Kandt (Garden Valley); Luis Braun (Garden Valley).
Notebook — Host Stonewall’s girls bowed out 5-1 to eventual champion Morden before falling 2-0 to Niverville in the consolation semifinal. The Rams’ boys rebounded from a 4-0 quarter-final loss to W.C. Miller to win their consolation semi 3-0 over R.D. Parker and the consolation final 3-1 against Minnedosa. All games were played under FIFA Laws of the Game with MHSAA modifications. Medals went to the top three teams; plaques were awarded to the third-place and consolation winners.
