Jasper soccer players have once again brought home a provincial soccer championship.
For the second time in three years, the Jasper Football Club U15 Boys’ dedication to the Beautiful Game has paid off—not just with life-long camaraderie, team-building skills and priceless memories… but with shiny new hardware for the mantle.
Two years ago, when they were at the U13 level, this group travelled to Cold Lake to crush the competition and bring home the title of provincial rural champions.
However, like the homes of many of the players, their championship trophy and team jerseys were lost in last summer’s devastating fire. This spring, in Jasper’s resilient fashion, the team donned their new glacier blue jerseys and accepted their season-long mission to claim a new trophy to proudly display.
After cruising through their league games undefeated – including winning a tournament in Sherwood Park – Jasper FC easily qualified for the Alberta Soccer Provincial Championships in Leduc as the Northwest Central region representatives. Here’s how the tournament went down:
Friday night – The first match of the tournament, taking on the Three Hills Strikers.
After a jittery opening couple of minutes, Jasper FC shook off the bus legs and striker Calvin Argument opened the scoring with a patient shot that sailed over the keeper to take an early lead. Shortly after, Ethan Gibbons used a slick rainbow to get past a defender and made no mistake on his strike to put Jasper up 2-0.
The Rovers from the Rockies didn’t slow down after that. The potent offence was complemented by a strong backline including Luka Kahlina, Jaifred Mota, and Ben Derksen. Their high speeds and diabolical tackles didn’t give Three Hills any room to make a solid play before being stripped of the ball.
After an egregious handball in the box, centreback Aeden McBain was called up from the rear to take the penalty. With a few nifty dance moves to unsettle the goalie, he stepped up to the ball and made a hard chip to the top right, off the woodwork, down, and in. The final score of Game One was 6-0, with goalkeeper Kieran Rudge recording a clean sheet (shutout, in hockey lingo).
Saturday afternoon – Game Two versus the Ponoka Storm
After a late night and lazy Saturday morning, there was a furious start to Saturday’s game, a different pace from the day previous. The action was back and forth as both teams showed early jitters. Jasper pressed the early advantage but were unable to get a high-quality shot away.
Midfielder Max Lescard may have had magnets in his cleats; any time an opponent neared him, he was able to artfully strip the ball and turn the play the other way. Lescard spent the year in Canmore, taking the Sun Dog up the Icefields Parkway every weekend to play with his Jasper teammates.
Lescard was instrumental in opening up space for striker Gibbons to aggressively deke a defender and hit a banger for the first goal of the game. At the other end, Ethan Joyeuse made a stellar tackle to save a sure goal. Turning the ball back up the pitch, Joyeuse sent the ball to Gibbons on a fast break to bury it and double the lead.
The intense Ponoka spectators added a bit of spice to this match; their heckling of the refs and even the Jasper players rivalled what you might hear at a hockey game. It also amped up the on-field tension as things got a bit chippy at times; the yellow card came out of the ref’s pocket on more than a few occasions.
Keeper Rudge faced more shots in this match than he had in any game this season, but he was equal to the task. He was able to rely on the pesky defense of Gabriel De Vera, Kian Maniquis, and Myles Misskey to disrupt Ponoka’s brewing offence. De Vera’s demonic defensive style in particular delighted the Jasper faithful, but ended up earning him a yellow card.
They couldn’t stop them all, however: an unfortunate bounce inside Jasper’s box squeaked past Rudge, bringing the Storm within one. That put some life back into the opposing crowd—one fan was threatened with removal by an Alberta Soccer official after he accosted the teenaged linesman. Jasper answered with some hard work on the defensive end by McBain, who made a gorgeous loft pass to Gibbons, who chipped it in the net. Shortly after, in response to more heckling and screaming, the head referee had to pause the game to warn the crowd – “any more comments from this section and the game is suspended!”
With the boys in blue up 3-1 at that point, the Ponoka fans decided that being quiet would serve their team better. Sure enough, the Storm potted another to pull within one.
A very tight finish was on tap. Matteo Artiaga hit the crossbar; left-midfielder Ash Habib also rang one off the woodwork, with the ball bouncing straight down and off the goal line before the keeper was able to grab it. Then, as the clock ticked down, Ponoka made a strong push on a clean break – they scored and began to celebrate before the crowd noticed the linesman’s offside flag flapping in the breeze. No goal! Jasper FC was able to hang on for a 3-2 victory, clinching a spot in the gold-medal match Sunday morning.
Coaches Paco “The Mexican Ted Lasso” Artiaga and Damien Joyeuse, as well as team manager Dave Argument, were quite pleased that the kids were believing in their potential. A birthday dinner that night for centreback Ben Derksen provided a great opportunity for the coaches to give a pep talk to the team. However, despite this team’s fun-first philosophy, there was still an interdiction on hotel pool time ahead of an early curfew for these wannabe champions.
Sunday morning — Game three versus St. Paul United
Sure, Jasper FC showed they could win on a sunny, mild afternoon. But could they do it on a cold, rainy morning in Leduc? We were about to find out as the skies opened up ahead of an early 8 a.m. final showdown against St. Paul United. Fortunately, the downpour during warmups eased off just in time for kickoff.
Early in the match, Liam Danks expertly placed a corner kick; Jesse Groth attempted to volley it in but it just went over the crossbar. These two teams had met in the Sherwood Park tournament earlier in the season, but it was a closer match this time out. St. Paul hit a post early, leaving the game deadlocked at zero.
Halfway through the first frame, Jasper FC started building from the back. Arlo Kennedy placed a nice through-ball for strikers Argument and Gibbons. Argument came away with the ball and only had time to make one stride before he made a well-placed shot to take the lead.
The St. Paul defence played Jasper tight; finally, a breakdown in that tight line opened up an opportunity for a nice cross from Gibbons to Groth, who dropped it back to Habib. Habib had time to make an athletic move around two defenders and fired it top bins over the keeper’s outstretched fingers, doubling the lead.
Early in the second half, St. Paul picked up a yellow card for a nasty trip. Jasper was able to advance the ball down the field, and Gibbons won the goal-mouth scramble with the keeper to put Jasper up 3-0.
St. Paul finally clawed one back with five minutes left in the game. Sensing an opportunity, St. Paul’s strong goalkeeper began aggressively leaving the net, advancing the ball down the sideline. Jasper took advantage of a handball and on a quick transition, Kennedy corralled the ball and sent it over to Habib who iced the game after cleanly dribbling the goalkeeper. United scored one more, but it was too little, too late.
Some clutch defensive plays saw out the match, a 4-2 victory. After a high-five line for the dedicated parents, relatives, and little siblings fan club, Captain Rudge accepted the provincial championship trophy. Look for it at the Activity Centre soon!
Lucas Habib // info@thejasperlocal.com
