Heat and United teams keep posting impressive results
In a battle of local under-15 boys’ teams last weekend, the Junior Heat humbled their Kelowna United counterparts by scoring a 7-1 victory.
In their third and final meeting of the regular season, Justin Matte led the Heat with a four-goal performance, while Ethan Kersche scored twice and Chris West netted the other goal.
Kelowna United’s Gavin Lawlor prevented a shutout loss by scoring on a perfectly executed penalty shot.
UNDER-15 GIRLS
The Kelowna United (Greenhough) girls finished off the regular season with a convincing 3-0 win over Shuswap at the Parkinson Rec Fields last weekend.
Kelowna United took control from the start of the game, demonstrating excellent ball control and movement, with most of the action in the Shuswap end for the first half.
Ashley Eisenkrein bagged her first goal of a hat trick just 10 minutes into the game.
When the teams came out for the second half, there was a noticeable shift in momentum.
Never a pushover, Shuswap played with a lot more energy and much of the action was in the Kelowna end of the field.
In spite of this, Eisenkrein netted her second goal 28 minutes into the half after taking a nice lead pass from Sophia Millikin.
That 2-0 goal lit a fire under the Kelowna girls and the momentum shifted back in their favour, with Eisenkrein scoring her third goal with a few minutes left on the clock.
Tayshja Clark had to make a great save in the dying seconds of the game after a scramble in front of her net to preserve the shutout.
UNDER-14 BOYS
The Junior Heat boys blanked Penticton 4-0, with Aaron Brears scoring twice, while Carson Martin and Pietro Arrigoni tallied the other goals.
The Heat remained unbeaten throughout the regular season, recording shutout wins in their final three games.
Prior to beating Penticton, the Heat torched Kamloops 5-0 back on June 4. Brears, Martin and Arrigoni also scored in that game, with Ethan Ramchuk and Ethan De Kruif finding the back of the net as well.
The goaltending duo of Zach Shields and Kaden Kiewitz were solid down the stretch for the Heat, stopping every shot they saw since late May.
UNDER-13 BOYS (YANN)
The Kelowna United Warriors downed Kamloops 3-1 in their regular-season finale.
Enjoying good possession and a territorial advantage, Kelowna opened the scoring 15 minutes into the game when Bradley Neal booted the ball into the net off a corner kick by Jack Millikin.
Ten minutes later, Neal gave a through ball to Mikey Kraus, who scored to make it 2-0.
Kamloops replied just before halftime to keep things interesting.
After the break, the Warriors looked a little tired but kept moving the ball.
Nikhil Filatow converted a penalty kick for Kelowna to round out the scoring.
UNDER-13 BOYS (ARRUDA)
Kelowna United’s other under-13 team was also victorious last weekend, prevailing 1-0 over Salmon Arm.
Kelowna dominated the first half with ball possession and excellent passing. There were multiple shots fired at both ends, but great goalkeeping by Kelowna’s Damiano Poloni kept the game scoreless at the break.
At the start of the second half, Salmon Arm went on the attack and was awarded a free kick but missed the net.
Kelowna countered with Maxim Storozhuk assisting on a goal by Ethan Warnes, which stood up as the winner.
Kelowna also overcame some adversity, suffering an injury and being forced to play a man short for the final 12 minutes.
UNDER-13 GIRLS
Closing out the regular season with a two-game set last Saturday and Sunday, the Junior Heat defeated their Kelowna United peers 3-1 and 2-0.
In Saturday’s game, Olivia Lawrie opened the scoring and also netted what stood up as the winning goal, while Tatum Grundy rounded out the scoring for the Heat.
Lawrie’s winner was set up by Anna Hopley, who fed Lawrie a pass early in the second half after Kelowna United had pulled even.
Sunday’s rematch saw Paige Keeley give the Heat a 1-0 lead in the first half before Lawrie set up Shae Taylor for the 2-0 goal in the second half.