Soccer provincials set for Niverville

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This article was published 11/10/2017 (2387 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

High School’s soccer elite will converge on Niverville this weekend as Niverville Collegiate will host the Provincial Rural High School Soccer Championships this Friday and Saturday.

Twenty teams in all, 10 girls and 10 boys, will be competing at Hespeler Park in Niverville as well as at two fields at Providence University College at Otterburne.

The roster of teams includes two from the host Niverville Panthers as well as the SRSS boys’ team and Lorette girls’ team, and all four teams are in a position to win the championship.

Lorette and SRSS won their respective Zone 13 titles, with both Niverville teams placing as runner-up in the zone finals. In the boys’ final, the Sabres beat the Panthers 5-4 in penalty kicks after the teams were tied 2-2 after regulation.

And the Lorette girls continued their strong play this season defeating Niverville 2-1 in the final.

The SRSS boys, defending provincials, come into this year’s provincial tournament again one of the favourites as they are seeded second behind top ranked Morden. In fact the Sabres, who have claimed eight provincial titles over the past dozen years or so, are the two-time defending champions. SRSS will play their first game Friday at 2:30 p.m. at Providence versus either Oscar Lathlin or Northlands Parkway.

Third ranked Niverville will take to the field at 12:30 p.m. at Providence vs. #6 W.C. Miller from Altona. Should the Sabres and Panthers both win their opening games, they would face off in the semi-finals Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at Niverville.

Meanwhile on the girls’ side, Morden is also the top seed while the Lorette Scorpions come in ranked second. The Scorpions will play their first game Friday at 2:30 p.m. at Niverville vs. either Dauphin or Northlands Parkway. Niverville comes in ranked fourth and will play fifth ranked Garden Valley Friday at 12:30 p.m. at Niverville.

Defending champion Minnedosa comes into this year’s tournament seeded third while Lorette will attempt to regain the title they won in 2015.

Opening ceremonies for both boys and girls teams will be Friday at 11:30 a.m. at Niverville Collegiate.

Both the girls and boys finals will be Saturday at 4:00 p.m. at Hespeler Park in Niverville.