The Niverville Panthers, with a 5–1 win over Gabrielle Roy in mid-October, earned the honour of representing Zone 13 at the Provincial A–AAA High School Soccer Championships, held October 18–19 in Minnedosa.
Niverville only holds one Provincial championship in soccer, dating back to the 2008–2009 season.
“Heading into Provincials, the team’s main focus was to play the right way,” says head coach Dwayne Penner. “We wanted each member to work hard, make smart passes, not try to do too much, and overall take care of their area.”
The Panthers went into Provincials as the number two seed and faced the host team first, the Minnedosa Chancellors.
After a tough 2–1 loss, they had success on the consolation side of the tournament, defeating the Northlands Parkway Nighthawks 3–0, which took them to the consolation finals.
“One thing that stood out about the Panthers was the resilience they showed,” says Penner. “Throughout the tournament we didn’t get all the calls we wanted, but we persevered and did not let that define how we were going to end the year. They worked hard for what they got and as one of the coaches I could not be more proud of them.”
The Panthers went on to win the consolation final over the Morweena Raptors in a close 2–1 match.
“To play three games in two days is a lot to ask from the boys… one of the things that really helped us was scoring early,” Penner says. “It helped us build momentum and give the boys an energy boost.”
Penner also had one final comment for the Panthers: “I would like to thank all the boys for their hard work. I would like to give special recognition to our captains who are in Grade Twelve and graduating this year. Koleton Peters and Dylan Peters were both integral parts of our team for the past number of years and provided great leadership to the younger players both on and off the field.”
