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A local girls' soccer team took home hardware over the holidays.
The U11 Fort Sask Arsenal competed in the Polar Cup in Edmonton from December 27 to 29.
Their division consisted of three other teams from Beaumont.
Arsenal opened up the tournament with a game against the Huskies that saw them down by a couple of goals.
"We were struggling in the first half," said head coach Shayne Davis. "[The Huskies] pushed the play a bit and built up a two-goal lead."
That didn't deter the girls, as they pushed back with a couple of goals of their own to tie things up at two in the second half.
"We were looking at a draw and the girls were able to knock one home with just over a minute remaining and close out with a 3-2 win," said Davis. "It was a pretty exciting victory for the girls, we had lost to that team earlier in the season, so it was nice to see the girls battle back."
Brynlee Butler, Brittica Davis and Ariella James had the goals for Arsenal in that game.
From there it was smooth sailing for the Fort Sask girls.
They lined up against the Beaumont Icebreakers in game two and, although Arsenal only led 1-0 at the half, they were eventually able to score four in the second half for a 5-0 win.
Davis attributes that win to the team's hard work in practice.
"They work hard, we do conditioning every practice," said Davis. "That second half when perhaps the other team is getting tired, either physically or mentally, our girls are sharp."
"They're relentless, they're on the ball, they cause pressure which creates turnovers."
With a perfect record through two games, it all came down to the third and final game against the Blizzards. Arsenal wouldn't let this one stay interesting as they cruised to a 4-0 victory.
Cadence Lypka was the goaltender for Arsenal and was key in keeping teams off the board in the last two games.
"Cadence made some remarkable saves for us," said Davis. "I will say we preach a lot about team defence and our forwards coming back."
"We had a couple of instances, we hadn't had the chance to work on forming a wall, and there was a free kick just outside the box and without even coaching it the girls knew exactly what to do."
Overall, this win was a testament to the team's hard work over the year, and Davis was happy to see that work pay off.
"They love coming to the field every week and they work hard, and I think that's inspiring," said Davis. "I've had the privilege of coaching some of them for many years now and it was nice to see all the girls, but even some of the ones I've seen for a long time, get rewarded for all that hard work and dedication to improve and develop those skills to be successful not only on the field but life as well."