Pinnacles FC under-12 girls district team bowed to Kelowna 2-0 and to Kamloops White 4-1 on Sunday.
The lone goal for Pinnacles FC was scored by Shanelle McIvor, while Taylor Reeder was strong in her netminding debut. Coach Ray Hintz said he received a strong effort from his team in its opening weekend.
“I like the way they competed,” said Hintz. “We were good defensively. Goalscoring can be worked on, but Kelowna is a stronger team.”
U13 boys
PFC under-13 boys team settled for a 0-0 draw in its second week of action against a tough Kelowna United squad.
Coach Manuel Borba said his team played well, coming off a 6-1 win over Revelstoke in the opening week. Borba said his players are learning the team system preached by the association.
“Kelowna United is a good with high pressure and they run you all over the place,” said Borba. “We dominated the second half when Kelowna got tired of chasing.”
Ryan Peters played goal for the Pinnacles.
U17 boys
PFC under-17 boys opened its season with a 4-1 loss to Kamloops, then earned a 2-0 win over Revelstoke Sunday.
PFC coach Paulo Araujo said his players are getting used to the system implemented by PFC so it will take some time to get to where they need to be. On Wednesday, the team defeated Kelowna United 3-0 on goals by Jarrod Mendonca, Moises Mumjuia and Kale Allison.
“The players are working hard and are committed to learning so it will be interesting to see where we are going to be towards the end of the season,” said Araujo, in his first year coaching the U17 boys.
Araujo has watched his group bond and they attend every training session wanting to learn more. The team also played in a tournament before the season where they won once, tied once and lost twice.
U12 boys
The PFC under-12 boys team lost 4-0 to a tough Kelowna squad.
“There were some good chances as Eli Grant hit a cross bar with a left foot shot from 18 yards out, and Matt Umsworth put a shot just wide after beating the keeper,” said coach Steve Grant.
The squad started slow against Kamloops in their second game, then the offence got rolling with four goals, three from Perrier and a single from Umsworth before losing 6-4.
Grant also coaches the under-11 boys team, which opened its season with a 4-0 loss to Kelowna after a scoreless opening half. In their second game against Vernon, Grant said the group dominated play, but couldn’t get a good enough shot on net and lost 2-1. Anders Say played brilliantly in net.
U15 boys
Bjorn Borren scored twice to lead the under-15 boys team to a 4-2 win over Kamloops.
Coach Joe Afonso said his group played as a team and is a competitive unit.
“They never forced the ball, made tight passes,” he said.
The team also waited for counter attacks, which isn’t something they normally do, but they started playing the possession game they were taught.
Afonso, who has coached the group the last five years, said they are strong. Allan Edwards, a rookie, also scored as did Rylan van der Meulan. Afonso said that Edwards had a strong game. Jacob Stocker earned the win in goal.
U18 girls
Two-goal efforts from Emily Jones and Alix Varchol helped the PFC under-18 team crush Vernon United 7-0. Adding to the offence was Marisa Mendonca, Shayla Hearnes and Line Campagnaro.
Pinnacles coach Carlos Mendonca said his squad controlled the play from the start and held possession of the ball for long periods.
The Pinnacles generated several scoring chances in the opening half from a new formation, but only managed two goals.
In the final half, PFC switched back to their normal formation and increased the pressure, which Mendonca said created more turnovers. Within 10 minutes, PFC made it 4-0.
“A very quiet game for Caitlyn Spooner in goal as she was called to make only a couple of stops,” said Mendonca.
The squad will travel to Vancouver for the Easter weekend where they will play in the Western Canadian showcase with many college and university coaches on hand.
In other PFC action on the girls side, the under-13 team lost to Vernon 3-0 and the under-14 team lost to Vernon 12-0, while the under-15 team battled Vernon to a 1-1 draw.
District teams will be taking a break from league action during the Easter weekend and resume play the following weekend. PFC is hosting Calgary Blizzard teams for exhibition matches.