The Nelson Selects U12 Girls squad headed south to the Pend Oreille Cup in Sandpoint this past weekend and came back with gold.
The girls started the weekend on Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 victory over the CDA Sting from Coeur d’Alene and followed it with a 2-1 win over FC Spokane later in the afternoon.
Needing a Sunday morning win to make it to the finals, the Selects topped the Spokane Foxes FC 2-0 to earn an undefeated record in the round robin.
In the final against the Spokane Sabers, the U12s kept the roll going with a 3-1 victory to clinch the gold medal.
“We dominated every game with Shianne Michalchuk and Taylor Harrison bossing the centre of the park and ruling the tournament,” said U12 coach Dave Spendlove.
Spendlove credited goaltenders Hanna Quinn and Rylee Zondervan with great work in net. Defenders Sofia Arcuri, Julia Burkart, Michaela Anderson, Ashley Hall and Emily Taylor worked the back end of the field with great success.
“Goals win games, but defence wins championships,” he said.
Alix Renwick scored six of the team’s 10 goals over the weekend. The striker received solid support from Ellee Atkinson, Mattea Lorenzo Langevin, Ruby Creighton, Jodi Surina, Reece Hunt and Sophie Bohri and Grace Dehnel.
The Selects U11 Boys team came close to gold, making it to the finals after they finished with a 2-1 record in the round robin, won 4-3 over the Idaho Thunder in the semis and lost in penalties to Coeur d’Alene in the final.
The Selects U13 Boys also made it to the final fuelled by a 2-1 round robin record. The boys lost 3-0 to to the host Strikers in the final and settled for silver.
The Selects U13 Girls finished with a 1-0-2 record and finished out of the medals. The U12 boys went 0-3 on the weekend.