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EDMONTON,ALTA - Gold was the colour that rang in the new year for athletes on the Fort Simpson Rebel soccer team.

The 15-member team took gold in division six for the U16 boys at the Polar Cup in Edmonton from Dec. 27 to 30. The Rebels went undefeated in three round robin games and kept that dominance in the finals.

The Fort Simpson Rebels brought home gold medals after taking first place in their division at the Polar Cup in Edmonton. Team members include, from left, back row: Coach Shane Thompson, Alex Roche, Stephen Thompson, Logan Donovan, Sadele Paulette, Tyrone Stipdonk, Tyler Pilling and Ian Keefe; middle row: Jordan Villeneuve, Alex Porter, Alex Keefe, Cody Lambert, Carson Roche, Thomas Roche and Wesley Hardisty; front row: Rylan Hardisty-Gillis. - photo courtesy of Karen Gelderman

"The team played really well combined as a unit," said Shane Thompson, the Rebels' coach.

The team was comprised of 10 athletes from the village, three from Fort Smith and two from Hay River who had previously played in Fort Simpson before moving last summer.

Together the team had a close first game, defeating the Yellow Birds, an Edmonton team, by only 2-1. The real nail biter of the tournament, however, was the Rebels' second game against St. Albert.

Many of the Rebels admitted the team didn't play well during the game. There was a lot of poor communication, which led to increasing levels of frustration between the players, said Alex Roche.

At half time the Rebels were down 2-0. The team finally got on the scoreboard with a quick goal about two seconds into the second half. St. Albert, however, scored again before the Rebels got in another goal bringing the score to 3-2.

The game got even grimmer when St. Albert pulled ahead 4-2.

"I thought we were going to lose it," said Logan Donovan.

Everything changed, however, in the last five minutes of the game when the Rebels scored three goals. Cody Lambert and Donovan banked the final two goals bringing the score to 5-4.

It was only after that final goal that the team knew they were going to win so they played defense until the time ran out on the clock, said Donovan.

The remaining games at the tournament were less dramatic. In the third game the Rebels won 7-2 against an Edmonton team putting them first in the round robin.

In the finals the Rebels played the Rio Terrence Titans from Edmonton, winning 4-2.

Because the final game wasn't a challenge, especially compared to the St. Albert's game, winning gold wasn't as satisfying as it could have been, said some of the team members.

"It didn't feel like we won anything," said Thomas Roche.

Although all the team members gave strong performances, Rylan Hardisty-Gillis was instrumental in two of the wins, said coach Shane Thompson.

Hardisty-Gillis played net in the last 18 minutes of the St. Albert game where he made some amazing saves, said Thompson. He also stayed in the net during the final game.

"Basically he controlled the final game," Thompson said.

In addition to making great saves, Hardisty-Gillis also made strong outlet passes that got the ball back to the players. The passes created two breakaways for the Rebels, said Thompson.

Good things also happened off the pitch at the tournament.

Because the team made a last-minute decision to attend the tournament none of the players had matching uniforms, said Thompson. A quick stop at a sports store outfitted the team with black jerseys that they taped numbers onto.

Before the Rebels' third game a member of the Terwillegar Riverbend Soccer Association from Edmonton said she'd noticed the lack of proper uniforms and wanted to assist the team. The association gave the Rebels a set of matching uniforms including 20 jerseys and a goaltender's jersey.

"It was pretty amazing," said Thompson.