LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Athletes from Fort Liard came to Fort Simpson last weekend, played soccer, conquered and returned home with five banners.

Nathan Betsaka, right, of Nahanni Butte and Marshall Nahanni-Kwasney, playing for Fort Liard, go after the ball during the U16 finals on Sunday. Fort Liard won the game to take home the U16 boys' banner. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

Nineteen athletes from the community competed in the annual Connie Loutit Memorial Soccer Tournament from March 28 to 30, where twenty teams from four communities battled in six divisions.

The Fort Liard boys U14 team won their division. The team went undefeated in the round robin beating the Fort Simpson Wolfpack 5-0 and the Fort Liard girls 7-5. In the finals, the team won 2-1 against the Wolfpack.

"It was a fun game, but at the same time tough," said Dylan Steeves, 13.

Steeves scored the Fort Liard team's first goal and James Duntra got the second. This was Steeves first time to the tournament. He said it was an honor to be part of a winning team and is already making plans to return next year.

The Fort Liard girls team was given the U14 girls banner because they were the only female team in the mixed division. The community was also awarded the U12 girls banner because two Fort Liard athletes played on the Bompas B team that won that division.

Duntra also played in the Fort Liard team that won the U16 men's banner and the U19 team that won the banner as a result of being the only team in that age division. The U19 team had to compete in the open men's division.

"It feels great, it was a lot of hard work," Duntra said about playing on three teams that won banners.

In the finals, the U16 team beat Nahanni Butte 5-4 in a close game. This was the first time in at least five years that Nahanni Butte entered a team in the tournament. In recent years, players from the community were integrated into other teams.

Nahanni Butte, which had four players from the community and four pick-ups, was undefeated going into the finals having beat the Fort Simpson Panthers 4-1 and Fort Liard 5-4 in the round robin.

Sean Ekotla got three of the team's goals in the game against the Panthers, a great present for his 15th birthday, which he celebrated on Saturday.

"It was an awesome game," he said.

It was great to have a Nahanni Butte team rather than play with another community, said Nathan Betsaka. Both Betsaka and Josh Bertrand had played at the tournament before. It was a new experience for Ekotla and Rochelle Yendo of Nahanni Butte.

Tied scores, which led to shoot-outs, marked two of the finals. Spectators crowded behind the net to watch the end of the last game of the tournament, the open men's finals, where Fort Simpson and Behchoko were tied 4-4.

It all came down to Devon Horassi, the last of five Fort Simpson players, after three Behchoko players scored goals in the shoot-out and so did three local players. Horassi got the ball past the net to secure the win.

There was also a shoot out in the co-ed open division, which PR Contracting won 2-1. The division, a new edition to the tournament, creates opportunities for more people to play, said Shane Thompson, one of the tournament's organizers.

There were fewer teams this year, 20 compared to 38 last year, but it worked out perfectly, Thompson said. Game lengths were increased to 40 minutes, giving teams five extra minutes per game.

"The competition was really good," he said.

A number of organizations and businesses made the tournament possible including the Village of Fort Simpson, the Mackenzie Recreation Association, PR Contracting, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Bompas Elementary School and Thomas Simpson School.