CORNER BROOK Evan Martin was put through the ringer at the provincial 4A boys’ soccer championship, but he is proud of his silver medal.
Martin played every minute of every game as the Corner Brook Regional High Titans battled their way to a silver medal at the provincial tournament held in St. John’s over the weekend.
The team ran into injury trouble with key starters Ryan Dawe and Jose Fuentes suffering nagging ankle injuries during the tournament and a handful of other players had their share of aches and pains from the grueling action. The Titans ran out of gas in the final, losing 3-0 to Holy Spirit of St. John’s.
A second-year player, Martin said the Titans expected to give a good account of themselves, but nobody saw them earning a berth in the final. Under the circumstances, Martin believes the Titans should be proud of the effort they put forward and claiming a silver medal.
“I’m really proud of my team. We all gave it our best effort,” the 16-year-old Level 2 student said Monday. “There were a couple of guys on the team who didn’t come off and played all four games, and they didn’t complain at all.”
The Titans, 1-1 in round-robin competition, opened the tournament with a 5-1 triumph over Prince of Wales Collegiate in St. John’s with Ryan Dawe and Jose Fuentes scored two goals apiece. Andrew Peckford rounded out the scoring for the Titans in the tournament opener.
The Titans ran into Holy Spirit in the second game of the round-robin, but the eventual provincial 4A champions posted a 2-0 win and kept the Titans off the scoresheet by limiting scoring chances and more touches on the ball to a minimum.
Martin and company, with most of the team members also teammates on the Western Under-16 male team, earned a berth in the final by shading Marystown Collegiate 3-2 in one of two semifinal games played to determine who would battle for gold.
Fuentes had a two-goal performance to lead the charge for the Titans, while Dawe booted home his third of the tournament.
The final showdown was a tough battle for the Knights, but in the end Martin believes the team did its best given the challenges they faced with fatigue and injuries.
“We had two or three scoring chances, but they had a very solid mid-field and defence, and they had most of the possession,” he said.
Winning a silver medal is just fine for Martin. He knows the boys left it all on the field.
Members of the team include Tyler Kelloway, Tyler Lavers (Most Sportsminded Player for Titans), Zack Fox, Berkie Warren, Matthew Thomson, Andrew Peckford, Daniel Whitten, Jose Fuentes, Ryan Dawe, Evan Martin, Patrick Lara, Jeff Randell, Myles Young, Alex Hennessey and Jacob McIntyre. Doug Sweetapple and Iain Martin served as the coaching staff for the Titans.
