PHOTO COURTESY OF HUGH LEHR
The Medicine Hat Wild pose with their gold medals after winning the Masters - Premier division of the Alberta Outdoor Provincial Soccer Tournament last weekend in Calgary.
Back Row: Hugh Lehr, Tyler McFetridge, Chris Sawicki, Edin Omerovic, Chris Kean, Pete Innes, Jeff Vangen, Paul Anderson, Dr. Bill Taylor, Sam Heap, Greg McLeod, Damir Omerovic
Front: Neil Bainbridge, Ryan Potvin, Chris Law, John Heib, Victor Bustamente, Brendan Lutz, Kelly Blouin, Sean McLachlan
Missing from Picture: Troy Gurrette
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
It took 21 years, but a Medicine Hat soccer team has once again won the Masters-Premier division of the Alberta Outdoor Provincial Soccer Tournament.
The over-35 Medicine Hat Soccer Association Wild won first place in the senior division of the Alberta Outdoor Provincial Soccer Tournament last weekend in Calgary.
The last Hat team to do it was the Logos Lizard’s “Old Boys” in 2001. The Wild’s team doctor/manager Bill Taylor was a member of that 2001 team.
Player coach Hugh Lehr said this group of players had been travelling and playing in the tournament together for at least 15 years and could not finish higher than a bronze or silver. Until this past weekend.
“For the first time in a while we had strong numbers, like a lot of guys, and we had a strong bench. Usually by the end of the weekend, we’re down to maybe one or two subs. So luckily, I mean, we had some injuries, but we also had numbers for guys to fill in,” Lehr said. “We also had some, I hate to say younger because it is an over-35 competition, but we had a few guys that were on that 35-36 range, just a few young guys on the team that really helped.”
The Wild defeated the Calgary Lads Club 4-2 in the first game with goals from Sam Heap (3) and Ryan Potvin. They earned a spot in the finals by defeating Edmonton’s Columbia FC 6-2 with goals from Brendan Lutz (4), Troy Gurrette and Heap.
The Wild faced Calgary’s Atletico Cuervos in the finals and jumped ahead 2-0 with goals from Lutz and Heap. Athletico scored one with five minutes left to make it close but the Wild held on, due to the play of their goalkeeper John Heib, to win the gold.
“It was just really cool, it’s been that long, we’ve come so close before, sometimes all the pieces have to work together and this time they did,” Lehr said. “Even in the last game, we were up 2-0 and then they scored with five minutes left and it was a nail biter. A lot of things have to line up to win a championship like this and it did.”
