By Jeff Wilson, Revelstoke Youth Soccer
The boys U11 Development soccer team headed to Vernon this past Sunday for games against two more Kelowna teams in the Thompson-Okanagan Youth Soccer League (TOYSL).
The morning game was a tense match with strong passing and exciting chances for each team. Shots rang off the posts or they were stopped by strong goaltending at both ends of the field, and it seemed that neither team was going to find a way to break this stalemate. However, with two minutes left to play, Jonah Adam fed a pass through to Alex Gribbon for a Revelstoke goal to take the win.
In the afternoon, Revelstoke faced another confident Kelowna team. Revelstoke gained the upper hand in this match when Francesco Morrone scored early in the first half on a free kick from 20 metres out. Our team was able to hang on to this lead until Kelowna equalized early in the second half. Five minutes later they went ahead with a second goal.
To Revelstoke’s credit and their fans’ delight, our team kept their composure and continued to fight for the ball, find opportunities to score, and stay in the game. As the clock counted down the final seconds of the second half, it seemed that Revelstoke was going to take a loss, but their hard work and perseverance paid off. Revelstoke earned a corner kick just before the final whistle and our team quickly set up for the final play of the game. Rogan Campbell’s perfect kick from the corner found Austin DeMazes and he tipped the ball into the net ending the game in a tie that somehow felt like another win.