Saskatchewan boys' soccer team wins national championship

The U17 Saskatoon Alliance won their provincial soccer league title, earning them a spot at nationals. But just to survive nationals is a grueling experience.

It’s the first boys' soccer national championship in Saskatchewan history.

The U17 Saskatoon Alliance won their provincial soccer league title, earning them a spot at nationals. But just to survive nationals is a grueling experience.

“It’s five games in six days,” said Dan Weber, head coach of the Saskatoon Alliance U17 boys team. “It’s really almost like a war of attrition.”

Winning their first three games in the round robin, all by just a single goal, the Alliance were guaranteed a spot in the gold medal game. They beat Alberta, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia before winning against Prince Edward Island in the semi-final.

“Everything was close,” said Weber. “Sometimes I think we made it closer than we needed to, but in other cases, they were just really, really competitive games.”

Facing Ontario’s representative Thornhill in the gold medal match, both teams were careful in the first half.

“I think both teams were kind of feeling each other out,” he said. “No one really wanted to make a mistake, they don’t want to lose on a mistake, so it was pretty conservative. Not the most exciting soccer.”