For nearly 30 minutes, the Vanier Vikings and Riverview/Cornerstone Royals played a close, back-and-forth soccer game.
Then the Vikings took over.
Vanier scored 10 times in the final hour and ran away with a 12-2 win in the Moose Jaw High School Boys Soccer League semifinal Friday. Vanier will now meet Central in the final.
“We put a gutsy performance together in the first half,” said Royals coach Jeff Kitts. “We had the first scoring opportunity and if we had scored maybe it changed the tide. By the second half our legs were gone.”
The score was 2-1 Vanier for nearly 30 minutes, then Vanier struck for three goals to take a 5-1 lead into the half and ease to victory.
“The guys played their space fairly well; they didn’t clump up that much. We used support, we tried to spread the ball around,” said Vanier coach Jason Tomashewski.
Spencer Krawczyk scored four goals for Vanier, while Albert Brown scored three times. Both scored on well-hit long range efforts late in the first half. Braydon Tomac and Kale Andrews each scored twice, while Brayden Shotter had the other Vikings’ goal.
Riley Brown scored both goals for the Royals.
For Vanier it was balance between trying to spread the chances around as the score ballooned, but also not backing away from trying to finish their chances knowing that they will need to make the most of what they get in the league final against Central on Wednesday (4 p.m., Gutheridge Field).
“We have to keep them out of the centre. They exploit our gaps when they go through and once they run through the middle we have a hard time trying to stop them. If we can force them wide then we have a better chance to try to keep them off the board.”
Because the Royals only had 10 players, they played 10v10 which didn’t allow Vanier to work on their system play before the final as much as they would have liked.
“We’ve been trying to develop some things to try to shut Central down specifically when we meet them in the final next week,” said Tomashewski.
The Royals will travel to Regina for their 7v7 regional tournament that will be hosted by Monseigneur de Laval on Oct. 19-20.
