By Sean Rooney on June 18, 2019.
srooney@medicinehatnews.com
@MHNRooney
Hunter Elliott-Mingo hadn’t scored all season, but nobody else seemed to be able to put one past either keeper as the Medicine Hat co-ed high school soccer season entered its ninth round of penalty kicks Monday night.
At the Methanex Bowl, the Grade 10 student from Hat High looked left, kicked right and the rest, as they say, was history.
Elliott-Mingo’s teammates mobbed him in a wild finish against Monsignor McCoy, which had earned a bye into the final by virtue of beating the Mohawks time and time again in the regular season.
“The same thing happened last year in indoor too, first goal of the season was the winner for the penalty shot,” said Elliott-Mingo, whose team beat Crescent Heights-Eagle Butte in last week’s semifinal. “Easy-sauce.”
The Colts had a first-half goal from Joshua Cockill and pushed late to prevent penalties, dominating possession in the final 10 minutes. But Hat High, buoyed by Dylan Stubbins’ putback goal early in the second half, held on for the 1-1 draw, then won a shootout dominated by the keepers.
“All the fans were cheering loud, it was a high-intensity game,” said McCoy keeper Ethan Smith, who made some incredible stops both in regulation and again in the shootout. “Every team came out, we all represented our schools pretty well.
“It’s always sad when you lose to penalties but it was really back-and-forth, I think we were matched up pretty well.”
Mohawks keeper Ethan Knodel was up to the task in the shootout as well, as the score was tied after five shooters apiece. Things got even more nervy as the final four rounds were one shooter each.
But the Mohawks got the gold medals.
“Basically just shoot low and corners,” said Elliott-Mingo of his plan against Smith. “It did feel a lot more competitive. They want to play to win, right?
“It was great, I loved it.”