The Olds High School Spartans soccer team finished the season on a high note, beating the Innisfail Junior-Senior High School Cyclones 2-0 in B-side playoffs on June 8 at Michener East Field in Lacombe.
The win gave the Spartans a third-place finish in the playoffs.
“Against Innisfail, they came out and just dominated the whole game. It should have been more than 2-0, but the goalie made a couple of decent saves to keep the score lower. The guys played really well,” said Mark Oxer, the team's coach.
The game was bittersweet, as earlier in the day, the team lost 3-0 against the H.J. Cody School Lakers from Sylvan Lake. They beat the Lakers 3-2 on June 6 in Sylvan Lake to finish the regular season.
“I don't know if maybe the guys were a little over-confident going into it because we beat them last game, but we dominated possession in the second half of the game, but we were already trailing a couple goals and so we just couldn't finish,” Oxer said, noting the team didn't play as well in the first half.
“The last league game of the regular season in Sylvan, (the players) played really well together. A couple guys really stepped up and had some good games,” he said.
Oxer said the season was a learning experience for a number of players, with several grade 9 and 10 players, and only three Grade 12 students on the team.
“I think it will be good (for next season) because a lot of guys will have played together this year, so that will be helpful for next year. A lot of the guys are going to be playing throughout the summer in different club programs, so I think the team should be stronger next year. We want to be in the A-side next year,” Oxer said.
