Lethbridge Football Club
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Denver Cup
Over the last week Lethbridge FC traveled with 3 teams to Denver, to compete in the Denver Cup. The Denver cup is the largest tournament in Colorado, and has many of the top teams in the state attend, as well as many top teams from surrounding states. The Lethbridge FC teams were the only Canadian teams to be entered and were entered and were lucky to face some of the strongest teams in the tournament. This competition will be an excellent lead up to the provincial championships which are happening over the next 3 weeks.
The Denver Cup is hosted by the Colorado Rush, who are one of the largest clubs in the State, with close to 10,000 players participating in their programs. The tournament was held at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, an impressive facility boasting 24 lit fields, including 2 state of the art field turf fields, as well as a 16,500 seat stadium that plays host to the Colorado Rapids of the MLS. This year there were over 250 teams participating in boys and girls divisions, with age groups ranging from Under 13 to Under 17, on both the boys and girls sides.
Lethbridge LF traveled with 3 teams to compete in the competition, with Under 14 girls, Under 16 girls and Under 14 boys teams all representing the club. Because of differences in age cut offs in the United States all of the Lethbridge teams were forced to play in age groups a year above their normal age group, meaning that often they were playing against players a full calendar year older.
The Lethbridge FC U14 girls played in the U15 gold division of the competition, and played against some of the best teams in the north eastern United States. In their first game against the Emerald City FC Green they came back from a 2-0 half time deficit to lose 3-2, with Ruby Kinsella and Lyndee Sayler scoring goals. In their second game the girls played Arsenal Gold, one of the best teams in the Denver area, they battled hard but lost 6-0 to a very big strong and athletic team. In their third game of the competition they came up against nationally ranked Colorado Rush Nike U15 girls, who have 2 girls playing in the U15 American national program, and came away on the short end of a 6-0 game. In their final game of the tournament girls recovered from their previous 2 very difficult games to post an excellent 2-1 win, with Sunder West and Olivia Viergutz scoring key goals in the win.
The Lethbridge FC U16 girls played in one of the most difficult draws of the competition, opening the tournament with a 8-0 loss to the defending state champs Colorado Rush Nike U17 girls, the girls played very well but were unable to compete against a very fast and physical Rush team. In their second game of the girls battled hard to compete against the U17 Pride Copa Girls, still working to recover from a very difficult opening game the girls hadn’t quite gained their legs back and battled to a 7-0 loss against a team who were fresh having not already played a game earlier in the game, and it showed particularly in the second half when they took advantage of a very tired team to slot in 5 goals in the last 20 min of play. The girls showed great character to respond and have a great performance on Saturday against, Arsenal Royal, with a 1-1 draw with Danie Lagemaat scoring the lone goal. In their final game of the competition the girls battled hard and were unlucky to have had 2 goals scored against the run of play as they fell 4-2 to Fire FC U17 Primer with Danie Lagemaat and Allie Trimble contributing the goals.
The U14 boys traveled down with a small but heart filled squad. Their desire and drive to compete was excellent and they were rewarded by a spot in the final. In their first game of the tournament the boys came up against Colorado Rush A1 boys, this was an excellent introduction to the level of play and the boys were able to win, 2-1 with Jonny Zdan, and Corey Frecka, scoring in the game. In their second game they came up against the Edge Selects, playing well but losing 3-2, with goals from Anthony Van De Vindel and Kooper White. This left them needing to win their last 2 games in order to qualify for the final. They did make the final beating Bolder Nova Gold 2-1 with 2 goals from Anthony Van De Vindel, setting them up for a must win encounter with Colorado Rush Swoosh, who would also need to win to progress to the final. Lethbridge FC won this game 3-1, with goals from Matt Rypien, Anthony Van De Vindel, Corey Frecka. With 3 wins and 1 loss the guys qualified for the final against the Edge Selects, the Edge scored in the 71 min to win the game1-0.
The tournament has been excellent preparation for all three teams, pushing them to play 4 or 5 very good games in a 4 day period will help these players to be as competitive as possible come the provincial championships. Come out and see the Lethbridge FC U14 boys and girls compete at the Lethbridge Sports Park, August 27th to 30th.
For more information please contact. Barry Morrison,
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or 403-715-5101.
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