Kardinia on mark in penalty shoot
KARDINIA International College’s Year 5/6 team has taken out the juniors’ section title at this year’s School Sport Victoria State Soccer Championships.
The college was among 1100 school teams from around the state that took part at the Kingston Heath Soccer Complex.
Expertly coached by Tim Bertino, the troupe of talented young footballers from the Bell Post Hillbased college went through the arduous qualifying process by winning the District, Division and Regional events to become one of eight schools in the state to qualify for the titledeciding tournament on Wednesday.
Kardinia won all three pool games in convincing fashion — 5-0 v Pleasant Street PS from Ballarat, 5-1 v Kenningston PS and 2-0 v Marymede Catholic College — to set up a grand final showdown with Amsleigh Park Primary School.
In the final, the Geelong boys were able to showcase their many talents with a tight defensive structure, dynamic and enduring midfield, as well as their skilful forward plays.
The scores were locked at 1-1 after regular time in the tournament decider and 2-2 following extra time, before the Geelong side finally ran out 4-2 winner on penalties.
All 15 squad players contributed immensely on the day, but the standouts included the incredible performance of the Tanic brothers Jedd and Oscar, who are both Melbourne Victory junior players, a fantastically marshalled defence, as well as North Geelong Warriors’ NPL junior goalkeeper Luka Volarevic’s incredible penalty save.
The win was made all the more incredible in having to contend with the pelting rain.