The Nelson U13 Girls Selects had an up and down weekend when they visited Coeur D'Alene, Idaho for the CDA Sting HotShot tournament this past weekend.
Nelson finished with a record of one win and two losses against some tough opposition.
First up on Saturday morning for the girls was Calgary Chinook Hearts. In a hard fought match, Nelson lost 3-0.
“In fairness, we were a good match for the team from the big city,” said U13 Selects coach Iain Harvey. “But in the end we lost out to some superior goalkeeping from the Calgary keeper who made some outstanding saves against Amy Hodgson and Jessie Van Donselaar to provide Hearts with the win.”
The next match was a different story as Nelson was outworked and outmatched by a quality Idaho Thunder team, losing 6-0 under the hot afternoon sun.
“We were still in the game at the end of the first half, being down 2-0, but the girls wilted in the afternoon heat and gave away four sloppy goals,” said Harvey.
Despite the loss, strong performances were turned in by Taylor Zimmer, Holly Rimmer and Maya Ida.
Sunday was a new day in more ways than one when Nelson took to the pitch to play Idaho Glacier FC.
The girls gave up a goal in the first half, but it seemed to spur them on as they marched right back down the pitch and Van Donselaar scored the club’s first goal of the weekend off a brilliant pass from Laurel Halleran.
A few minutes later Rimmer worked diligently to keep a ball alive and laid it onto Emma Wheeldon who cracked it right into the bottom corner for a 2-1 half time lead.
“I impressed upon the girls the importance of finishing teams off when they are down, and the ladies responded accordingly in the second half with a further three goals.”
Van Donselaar, Amy Hodgson, and Noa Butterfield responded for Nelson to cap an emphatic 5-1 win.
“The girls were a wee bit discouraged coming off that afternoon loss on Saturday," explained Harvey. “But they had a good team dinner/bonding session Saturday night and were immensely superior in every aspect of the game, including some lovely passing football. I'm very happy for them"
The U13 Selects will be making their next appearance in the Nelson-hosted Terry Walgren tournament on the weekend of May 26 and 27.