By Drew Wilson

Celtic U-14 Girls strike gold, U-16 boys lose a heartbreaker in Provincial final

Aug 19, 2012 | 5:26 PM

Sunday was bitter-sweet for the Prince Albert Celtics youth soccer program.

The U-14 girls provided the sweetness with a 4-1 win and had to overcome some adversity in the first half of their Saskatchewan Premier Soccer final at Prime Ministers Park.

The Aurora Concordes took advantage of a nervous start by the Celtics hoping to end the undefeated 12-0 season for the Prince Albert girls by opening the scoring late in the first half.

However, the Celtics settled down quickly, equalizing on Emma Manson's sneaky chip into the back of the Concordes net.

The Celtics made a statment in the first minute of the second half when Hailey Erickson finished a nice cross through the box.

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The Prince Albert side dominated the rest of the game seemingly controlling the ball at will. Quinn Buettner scored after two consecutive headers from teamates sent her in alone and co-captain Meghan McFee chipped home a rebound to round out the scoring.

McFee said it was Manson's goal that was the game breaker.

“It felt great,” said McFee. “Emma was just going to the net, it was awesome, it brought our confidence back because we were worried we wouldn't get it (the goal against) back, but we did and it just changed the results of the game and we worked hard at it, to go to the net.”

Coach Dale McFee called it a character win by his “special group”.

The girls will now prepare for the National championships slated for early October in Ontario.

Co-captain Cheyenne Morin can't wait.

“It feels awesome,” said Morin. “We worked ten months to get here and you have to put it all together in 90 minutes. It feels good to have your whole team with you, supporting you every minute of it.”

Meanwhile the U-16 boys battled Unidad up and down the field for 110 minutes of heart stopping soccer.

They would head home disappointed following a 3-2 loss after penalty kicks.

Following a scoreless first half, Logan Hughes would open the scoring for the Celtics out-duelling two defenders and spinning a low shot into the bottom corner of the net.

It looked as if the boys would shut the door when Unidad tied the game late in the 2nd half on a scramble from a corner kick.

There was a gasp and a huge ovation from Celtic supporters just before the end of regulation when Wyatt Romanchuck showed why he had a league leading 4 shutouts, stretching and leaping to make a point blank save, sending the game into extra time.

Unidad would take the lead on another corrner kick late in the 2nd 10-minute extra period and looked poised for victory, but Nolan Johnson would tie the game with seconds remaining scoring from outside the penalty area on a perfectly placed free kick into the bottom corner.

After hitting the post on their first shot, Unidad would score on thier next four penalty kicks while the Celtics scored on two of their four attempts.

dwilson@panow.com