INUVIK
It could have been victory but second place tasted sweet to the East Three Elementary School boys soccer team over the weekend.

Dalton McLeod, 11, of the Inuvik Grade 6 Boys' Super Soccer team, takes the ball up the field for his team during the Super Soccer Championships in Yellowknife last weekend. - Candace Thomson/NNSL photo

The team placed second at the Super Soccer Championships in Yellowknife April 27-28, losing to a Yellowknife team. Nadine Wagner, the head coach of the team, said she was very satisfied with the results.

“We won all of our round-robin games,” she said. “Then we went into the semi-finals and beat Iqaluit, then lost the championship against the Range Lake team 4-2.”

Ironically, the East Three team had beaten Range Lake in the round-robin portion of the tournament, splitting the two games they played against each other.

It's a huge improvement for the team, which won only one game last year at the tournament that pits Northern teams from Nunavut and the NWT against each other for bragging rights.

“So this year they really stepped up and played really well defensively,” Wagner said. “Our defensive end was very strong, and our goalie played amazing. We had some strong players.”

The outstanding goalkeeper was Jacob Lennie, who's been learning the position for all of five weeks.

“He definitely helped us out a lot,” Wagner said. “He made some spectacular saves that made the whole crowd go, 'Whoa!'”

Lennie was justifiably proud of the team's accomplishment.

“It was really fun and everybody gave their best,” Lennie said. “We made it to second place. We were hoping to win the banner, but I guess the other team just wanted it more than we did.”

“It's just a really fun sport to play,” he said. “The team played really well in front of me, everybody played good D, and everybody worked together. I'm like a third line of defence. Everybody played really good.”

Last year, the strategy for the team was to go with older players, said Wagner.

Most were from Grade 6, meaning most of that team had moved on to secondary school next door at East Three Secondary School.

That left the team with a large amount of turnover in personnel, and it was those younger players who helped the team turn the corner, she said.

“This year because of the interest level, we took four Grade 6 students and the rest were Grade 5. It was just a changeover from last year, and I guess these students are just a little more athletic and are a little better in soccer.

“It's been a long time since we've done this well,” she added. “Next year we should have a pretty good team if we keep the same players coming out and interested.”

There is more interest in soccer among school-age children than there once was, Wagner added.

“It's starting to come back,” she said.

The East Three Elementary girls team also travelled to the tournament and the players improved their record from last year. They won two games and lost three, said head coach Stephanie Parkes.

“They did well, and I think they were pleased. The team that put them out is the team that won the tournament on the girls' side. They were a tough team, but we played hard and we played well.

“We did well, and better than last year, so things are looking good.”

Parkes said the team will lose a few players to graduation, and have others in place moving up from Grade 5, so its prospects are looking good.

“We played a good strong defence, I think that was our key. We need to work on getting a few goals ourselves, but we have only five weeks to get this team together and practise, and we're up against teams that play together year-round in Yellowknife, so for them to do as well as they did was impressive.”