The Annual Ombrelle Active Start 'Aftershock' Soccer tournament was held all weekend long from Friday, May 13 to Sunday, May 15 at the Robert Scott, Eagle View Elementary, and Port Hardy Secondary School soccer fields.
The tournament featured teams from Port Hardy and Port McNeill, ranging from ages tots, U6, U8, U10, U15, and U18. In the U12 girls division, Port Hardy 2 defeated Port Hardy 1 in the finals 3-0.In the U12 boys division, Port McNeill 1 defeated Port Hardy 2 in the finals 2-1.In the U15 girls division, Port Hardy 1 defeated Port Hardy 2 in the finals 4-1.In the U15 boys division, Port Hardy 2 defeated Port McNeill 2 in the finals 4-2.In the U18 mixed division, Port McNeill and Port Hardy played a best of three series, with Port Hardy winning the first game 5-2 and Port McNeill tying Port Hardy 3-3 in the second game.
A sudden death game was held at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday to decide which team was the official tournament champion. Port McNeill got out to an early 1-0 lead off a penalty kick goal, but Port Hardy's Taylor Ranger managed to tie the game up with a goal in front of the net a few minutes later. Port McNeill then scored off a rebound just before the whistle for the end of the first half to take a 2-1 lead.
During the intermission, Port Hardy Coach Darryl Coon told the team to "keep plugging away," adding that "it's not over yet," and that the team needs to use the right side of the field more. Port Hardy came out for the second half with some good pressure, looking for the tying goal.
Port McNeill's goalie made some great saves to keep his team in the lead, but with only a few minutes left, Kaleigh Harris netted a great header off a corner kick to tie game up 2-2. The whistle blew soon afterwards and the game went into shootout.
Port McNeill was up first, and they kicked the ball over the net. Tyrone Wallas then blasted the ball past the Port McNeill goalie to give Port Hardy a 1-0 lead in the shootout. Port McNeill missed their second shootout attempt, and Port Hardy's Brendan Williamson netted a great goal afterwards to give Port Hardy the shootout win 2-0."It was a good game, very back and forth," said Coon after he finished celebrating with the Port Hardy team. "I told them keep plugging away at it and they did. Kayleigh scored off a corner ball to tie it up, showing that the games not over till the final whistle."