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Nelson U12 Selects return home from Kelowna with gold

The Nelson Selects U12 Boys team came home with a gold medals from the annual Kelowna Canada Day Soccer Tournament.
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The Nelson Selects U12 Boys team celebrate their gold medal in Kelowna.

The Nelson Selects U12 Boys team came home with a gold medals from the annual Kelowna Canada Day Soccer Tournament.

"It was an excellent team effort," said Selects’ coach Mark Harold. "All boys contributed in a significant way to the team's success. Our nine offensive goals were scored by six different players. The team's stellar team defense frustrated their opponents in all four games and this was coupled with excellent goalkeeping from Noah Whiffen and Ryder Jeffers Marzicola."

In the team's first game against the Yukon Selects, they were victorious in a game settled by a sudden death penalty kick shootout. Blue Campbell cooly secured the victory for the Nelson team.

Two Alberta teams were next up for the Selects. The first game was a 4-1 victory over the Signal Hall Stallions and the next game was a 3-0 defeat to the Airdrie FC team. Matthew Wouters, Kiefer Barclay and Tyler Colgan had solid performances in all tournament games.

The boys saved their best game of the tournament for the gold medal match with a 2-1 victory over the Airdrie FC team. Two second half goals by Nelson, including one goal in the last minute, secured the tournament victory.

Goal scorers for the Nelson team in this tournament included Max Spielman, Mike Zarikoff, Brett Anderson, Cody Barnes and Carter Anderson. Game MVPs for Nelson included: Zarikoff, Luke Taylor, Jesse Harold and Barnes.

"It was a great team effort and solid positive play from all boys," said coach Grant Anderson. "They have worked hard this season on developing their individual and team skills and it was evident that this hard work has paid off."

Next up for the U12 Selects team is the Sandpoint tournament in early September.