City soccer shut out at own girls’ Challenge Cup
29th annual tournament included 74 teams
The Peterborough City Soccer Association was shutout at their own Challenge Cup Girls’ Soccer Tournament on the weekend.
Peterborough’s last hope vanished when the City U16 girls lost their semifinal 3-2 in penalty kicks to Lake Simcoe FC at Beavermead Park on Sunday afternoon. Lake Simcoe went on to win the U16 Andreoli Division final 1-0 over Whitby Iroquois at Eastgate Memorial Park.
The 29th annual tournament featured 74 teams including 46 in competitive divisions of U13 to U17/18 and 28 in a festival format for ages U12 and under. Peterborough City had five teams in the seven competitive divisions with two reaching semifinals and three failing to advance beyond pool play. Last year, City had three championship teams. Tournament organizers said a number of new clubs registered this year and increased the overall calibre of play.
The City U16 girls posted a 2-1 record and had an improved performance on their 2017 tournament. They were 2-1-1 in a tournament in Oshawa.
“For sure we were hoping to win so we’re a little disappointed,” said City U16 coach Brad Collyer. “We definitely have some things to work on but that’s good. We’ll learn from our mistakes and work on them and improve for next time. We didn’t do so well in the tournament last year so we definitely did better. You always hope to win. That was our goal coming in here.”
Jayda Maybee gave City a 1-0 lead but it took her second goal with 10 minutes left to force penalty kicks. Brooke Balson scored their lone penalty kick goal as Lake Simcoe outscored the 3-1.
“I think we played well,” said City keeper Jessie Heeley. “There were some mistakes made but we’ll learn from them and correct them.”
She said it was tough to get so close to a final and miss out.
“There was a chance we could have won the tournament but we did our best and that’s all that matters,” said Heeley.
“We had our good moments, for sure,” said Collyer, “but we definitely have to work on putting together a full game. Once we do that we’ll be fine.”
The Peterborough City U15 girls reached the semifinals of the U15 Berardi Division before losing to FC Durham Academy 1-0. Darlington Energy defeated FC Durham Academy 2-1 in the final.
In the U13 Hogan Division final the Woodstock Strikers beat FC Durham 2-1 in penalty kicks. Peterborough didn’t advance to the playoffs. Quinte West won the U13 Horsfield Division beating North Bay 1-0 in the final.
The 14/15 Truman Division was won by Northumberland United 2-1 over Belleville. Peterborough City failed to make playoffs.
East Hamilton Phoenix claimed the U15 Mulders Division beating the Pickering Power Green 6-1.
The U17/18 Forster Division final saw Darlington edge Ottawa City 1-0. Peterborough failed to reach the playoffs.
The PCSA Boys’ Challenge
Cup is June 16-17.