It was a very satisfying end to the high school soccer season for the Swift Current Comp Ardens.
They slayed the Yorkton Regional dragon to win bronze at the 5A high school soccer provincials.
"This particular bronze is probably the most gratifying bronze medal we ever won," said Ardens Head Coach Dale Perry. "Yorkton Regional beat us in the bronze medal game last year at provincials, they also ended our 15 year run as the Moose Jaw league champions, and they beat us five games in a row including the last two regional championships. We really went into that game like this has to be our biggest game of the year. They were almost happy to be up against Yorkton to prove to them we were the better club."
So how did they break that Yorkton losing streak?
"Total 110% intensity," Perry said. "We never gave them an inch. We were first to balls. We protected our end. The final game was quite windy. We had the wind in the first half and scored three goals, but the wind really got advantageous to Yorkton in the second half. They had us pinned in our end for fifteen or twenty minutes, but we didn't break."
This was the first year for the Ardens after leaving the Moose Jaw league. They instead focused on weekend tournaments against higher level opponents.
"I think it went very well," Perry said. "We were able to play a number of higher quality teams throughout the season. We got to see three different Regina teams, the PA teams... it was much better for us this year and instead of playing games during the week we got an extra practice session in."
The Ardens now say goodbye to their grade 12 class, but they are still confident in their pipeline for next season.
"We're graduating some really, really solid players," Perry said. "This year we brought in nine grade 9 players. That's a significant learning experience for them which will help them fill some of those spots next year. I think the team is still in pretty good shape and should do well next year."