Wanderers take run at Div. III soccer title

The Moose Jaw Wanderers men's soccer team has been looking for competition all year.
At the Division III provincials held in Moose Jaw this weekend, they found it.
The Wanderers went 1-2 on the friendly confines of Canada Games Fields, missing the playoffs of the men's division. The women's Division III provincials were also held here, but no local teams participated this year.
"We could have done better, which was unfortunate," said Wanderers member and tournament organizer Blair Kardash. "It was quite competitive."
Until this weekend, whenever they played, the Wanderers would play a unaffiliated team from the 15 Wing area.
"We practiced hard, and we were quite organized, but we just didn't play enough games," said Kardash. "When you're only playing against one team, it kind of made it difficult to prepare against teams that use other systems."
The Wanderers defeated the Prince Albert Celtics 4-2 Friday, and then lost 5-0 to North Battleford's FC Elite and 8-1 to Athletico, also from North Battleford.
In the game against the Celtics, Hugh Fraser scored two goals, and Kevin Wicharuk and Matt Ligouri scored the others. Fraser scored the Wanderers' goal in the Athletico game.
"We did the best that we could and we all had fun at it," said Kardash. "We still respected each other after the tournament."
The Wanderers - a veritable who's who of Moose Jaw soccer coaches and soccer veterans - were also battling the injury bug throughout the tournament. Wicharuk, Matt Bader and Alex Meyer were all forced to the sideline with an injury.
The MJ Cougars, under Caronport's Marcello Ike, also went 1-2 in their tournament, winning 4-1 over Weyburn's entry for their win. They lost 3-0 to Estevan and 4-0 to UCT Shockers' U-18 team, the eventual tournament winners in the men's bracket. Scorers in their games were unavailable at press time.
Organizationally, the tournament went off without a hitch under clear, sunny skies. Over 20 teams in mens and women's brackets.
The women's provincials were won by Yorkton United's U-18 team.
"The Saskatchewan Soccer Association was very pleased with how the tournament was organized and how smoothly things went," Kardash said. "We never had any major barriers."

Corey Atkinson can be reached at 691-1260