Submitted by Dan Tremblay.
After four games, the Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute (VCI) junior boys soccer team sits atop the junior standings in the Prescott-Russell Secondary Schools Athletic Association (PRSSAA) with nine points.
In week one, the boys got off to a great start with wins against Le Relais and Casselman (ESCC) by scores of 5-0 and 2-1, respectively. Damien Gauthier led the charge in the 5-0 win by scoring twice, while Luke Goosen, Michael Sauvé and Tyler Burmeister each added singles. Matthew Miller was responsible for shutting out the Alexandria team. The second game of the day would prove to be a much tighter contest. Damien Gauthier scored on a penalty kick with only a few minutes left to give the Warriors the 2-1 win. Jorge Vazquez opened the scoring on a free kick from 30 yards away.
Week two started off with a poorly played first half, which ended with the Warriors on the wrong side of a 3-0 score against Embrun. However, the boys would bounce back nicely against Le Sommet with a 2-1 win. Damien Gauthier scored in the early minutes of the first half and it looked like the Warriors would be able to hold off their opponents the rest of the way. That was until Le Sommet was able to score with only three minutes left to tie the game 1-1. Once again, Damien Gauthier was able to put a ball past the goaltender with only one minute left to play, giving the Warriors their third win of the season.
The Jr Warriors will play their final two regular season games on October 11, with the playoffs scheduled to kick-off October 16. The top four teams in the league will advance to the playoff round. So far, coach Dan Tremblay has been impressed with the extremely solid crop of grade nine students that have come in this year. He hopes the team can continue its winning ways during the season’s final week and into the playoffs.
