Nelson U18 Selects strike gold at Kamloops Slurpee Cup
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The Nelson Selects overcame a ton of adversity to capture the gold medal at the Slurpee Cup this past weekend in Kamloops.
Jaden Dyck scored the only goal in the final to power the Selects to the U18 Boy’s title with a 1-0 win over Chilliwack Attack.
“I was especially pleased with this result given that Kamloops is always a high-end, difficult tournament and our group of boys had never previously won a medal there,” said Nelson coach Kerry Dyck.
Dyck said the squad banded together after suffering a loss of players due to injury.
“We suffered some adversity, with a combination of other commitments and injuries resulting in us being down to only 11 players, and hence no subs, for the final game, which determined the gold medal,” he said.
Nelson opened the tournament with a 1-0 victory over European Football School.
Milo Baranyai-Sheppard scored the only goal in the game for Nelson.
The Selects then bounced Mission elite 3-1 on goals by Aaron Abrosimoff, Jaden Dyck and Josh Fogal.
The lone blemish came against zone rival Kootenay East as the Cranbrook based squad defeated Nelson 1-0. Kootenay East finished second in the tournament.
“The boys really dug deep and rose to the occasion, playing what I felt was their best game of the year, with a solid performance from all 11 and a great team effort,” Dyck said of the final game.
Hunter Lloyd, a 16-year-old keeper from Christina Lake, was in goal for the entire tournament for Nelson.
Lloyd was thrust into the starting lineup after the Select regular keeper was lost for the season due to a torn rotator cuff.
“Hunter, though younger, is a fantastic keeper and we are really appreciative of him playing with us,” said Dyck.
