Here 4 Beer took home the Open Division title, defeating In Deep 5-1 in the final of the 2013 Christmas Co-Ed Indoor Soccer Tournament held at Nelson’s SoccerQuest on Sunday.
In the Rec Masters Division it was Abacus downing CoCo Pops 4-1.
In all, 10 teams took part in the fun tournament, four in the Rec Division and six in the Open Division.
“The tournament has gone great. Everyone seems to have had a good time,” said SoccerQuest’s Jamie Spendlove, one of the organizers of the event.
Each year, 10 teams participate in the holiday series, designed to allow soccer players to enjoy a little exercise and camaraderie during the holiday break.
“It’s all for fun. Everybody comes in from out of town, so families play together. No one takes it that seriously,” explained Spendlove.
However, he did say the final match could be, and eventually was a little heated.
“They both like to win. The Here 4 Beer team is full of university players and In Deep are the guys who used to play university soccer.”
In the battle of the ages, it was the younger squad who held the upper hand. Here 4 Beer had the advantage of numbers as In Deep had only two substitutes for the contest.
Here 4 Beer opened the scoring when Kevin Lewis hit the back of the net early on to give his squad a 1-0 lead.
“This is a great tournament. It’s fun to play with all your friends who came back for Christmas,” said Lewis.
With just over five minutes to go in the first half, Mitch Popadynetz scored to make it a 2-0 contest.
As In Deep began to tire, Here 4 Beer took full advantage, opening the second half with another goal, this time from Ryan Lewis, to make it 3-0.
About 20 seconds later Andrew Tranfo scored to make it 4-0 to put the game out of reach.
With 11 minutes left in the contest, In Deep got on the board when Marlissa Crosland scored to make it 4-1. But Popadynetz notched his second of the game, late in the match to make the final 5-1.
The Rec Master finals was a different story as Abacus and CoCo Pops played evenly in the early going.
Bronwyn Precious scored the only goal of the first half on a nifty steal to put the ball in the back of the net and give Abacus a 1-0 lead.
In the second half, Mike Gerun tied the game at one with a hard shot that found the back of the net. But it was all Abacus after that.
Two goals by Jennifer Garant and one by Holly McRann gave Abacus the 4-1 win.