T
he Estevan Comprehensive School boys soccer team hosted regionals on the weekend, and while they didn't win it all, they did enough to secure a berth at provincials.
The Elecs edged Weyburn 5-4 on penalties in an entertaining regional semifinal, then lost 13-1 to Yorkton in the final later on Saturday.
The win over Weyburn, which required extra shooters to take penalty kicks, sent the Elecs to provincials, which will be hosted by Prince Albert Carlton this weekend.
The final against Yorkton was a stark contrast from the earlier game. The Elecs trailed 7-1 at the half, with Mohamed Hersi scoring their only goal.
ECS coach Sigfredo Gonzalez noted that while Yorkton is a good team, he didn't expect to lose by that much.
In the early game, Weyburn took a 2-0 lead in the first half, only to see the Elecs storm back with two goals of their own.
Weyburn would go ahead 3-2, but ECS got it back with 37 minutes left to set up a wild finish.
With 19 minutes left, the Elecs pulled ahead for the first time in the game on a strike from inside the 18-yard box.
Just when it looked like Estevan had the win, Weyburn tied it with two minutes left, putting in the rebound off a bad-angle shot.
"It's kinda nervous and happy," Gonzalez laughed about coaching in such a tense game. "With three minutes left before the game ended, Weyburn tied it and then you're sort of hoping it doesn't happen that they score again.
"I was hoping that the players didn't go down and just give up. Sometimes you're thinking you have already won and then they score, then you think, 'uh oh.' They kept it up and I was proud that they kept playing with the same kind of spirit. We played to the end."
No goals were scored in two five-minute halves of extra time, sending the game to penalty kicks, which lasted seven rounds.
Yongseong Jeon finally ended the game, slotting his penalty in the top left corner.
Hersi scored twice for the Elecs, with Andrei Stefan and Vincent Cho also finding the back of the net.
"What we did well was to have the speed to be playing the game. We closed them down, we didn't give them too much space. When we started the game we were giving them too much space," Gonzalez said.
"It was a very competitive game. Both teams played well."
The match had to be stopped for about 30 minutes due to a foot fracture suffered by Mark Fergusson.
"When they came back to the field, they were playing better. I was proud of the way they started playing after that," Gonzalez said.
Meanwhile, the ECS girls team bowed out of regionals in Weyburn, losing 12-0 to A.E. Peacock in their first game on Friday.
Head coach Stacy Murphy said it was a young squad this year.
"It's definitely been a rebuilding year because there were only four players returning from last year. Seventeen of them were brand new and the majority of those had never played before. It was definitely a restructuring year."
Still, she said, "we definitely improved from the beginning of the season to the end (in our) overall game and understanding the flow and the movement of the game, and comprehending how they need to work on their skills and improve on them so they can work better together as a unit."
She added she is hoping more players will come out for next year's team.
