Saturday’s defeat by the Okanagan Mission Boys U-10 saw the Puma boys go to four wins, four losses and one terrific 5-5 tie.
Playing away from home, the Lake Country Youth Soccer Association boys had a sluggish first half and found themselves down by a 2-0 score.
One of the opponent’s goals was covered by keeper Jordan Barker, but the shot hit a Puma defender and bounced in.
The Pumas were not able to test the OKM goalie with any clear cut chances, but midfielders Julian Beauchamp and John Henderson fought hard to keep the ball in their opponents end.
Parker Thomas took the goaltending duties in the second half and was called on to make several brave saves. One shot that he would normally save unfortunately took a crazy bounce past him and the final result was a 3-0 loss.
The Pumas’ can look at how well and how hard they worked in the second half and hopefully carry that effort into their next game.
Mini Wold Cup
The Lake Country Youth Soccer Association boys U-10 Pumas became Argentina in a Mini World Cup tournament played on Sunday.
The boys won two games in the huge event, by a combined score of 7-1.
Goalkeeping was a big factor in the team success, with Thomas Bucholz, Parker Thomas, Jordan Barker all shutting out their opponents.
The single goal that Argentina did give up went by first-time goalie John Henderson. John, however, did chip in with two very good goals from his more usual midfield position.
Other goals came from Ethan Prentice, Parker Thomas, Jackson Rosco, with Julian Beauchamp and Daniel Loban both scoring on fine left-footed shots.
Neal McPherson missed game one with an injured foot, but recovered to play well in game two.
Very strong and very dependable defending was played by Kylen Paskaruk, Jake Wood, Connor MacKay and Gabe Traass.
The players all received a well earned nice mini-sized World Cup for their efforts.