Twenty high school soccer teams invaded the City of Sunshine, Friday and Saturday, looking for gold on the soccer pitches at the Vermillion Park Sportsplex.

By the end of the tournament, it was the Garden Valley Zodiaks of Winkler celebrating not one, but two provincial titles as their girls and boys teams swept the gold medal games.

In the girls’ draw, the Zodiaks defeated the W.C. Miller Aces of Altona, 2-1, while the Neepawa Tigers claimed the bronze medal with a 3-0 win over the Niverville Panthers.

The Minnedosa Chancellors won the consolation with a 4-2 win over the Morden Thunder.

In the boys’ tournament, Garden Valley beat their Winkler counterparts, the Northlands Parkway Nighthawks, 4-0 to claim gold.

The Aces boys team won the bronze medal with a 3-1 win over Niverville and Minnedosa swept the consolation crowns with a 2-0 win over the Morweena Raptors of Arborg.

As for the host Clippers, the girls played their hearts out, but fell short in both games, first losing 1-0 in overtime to the Hapnot Kopper Queens of Flin Flon, before being eliminated by Morden, 4-1 on penalty kicks.

Check this week's Dauphin Herald for a full recap of the provincials!

The Dauphin Fire Department hosted a fund-raising barbecue, Saturday, at the fire hall to wrap up Fire Prevention Week.

They also made the draw for their annual 50/50, with Cam Klepak of Sifton taking home the $5,000 grand prize.

All proceeds will go to the Dauphin Fire Fighters Association for the restoration of the department’s antique firetrucks.

Dauphin is set to host the Manitoba High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) soccer provincials, Oct. 13 and 14, at the Vermillion Park Sportsplex.

The Dauphin Clippers girls and boys teams won the zone playoffs in Swan River, last Thursday, and will represent Zone 8 at provincials.

Both Dauphin teams entered zones as the number one seed.

After the Swan Valley Tigers scored a narrow 3-2 victory over the McCreary Mustangs in the girls’ semifinal, Dauphin advanced to provincials with a 2-0 win over the Tigers in the final.

The Clippers boys beat the Alonsa Aces, 12-1 in their semifinal match before beating Swan Valley, 4-3, on penalty kicks to advance to provincials.

Clippers boys coach Cory Armstrong said it was the first time since he has been involved with the high school soccer program that the Clippers have been the top ranked team going into the zone playoffs.

“We’ve either been two or three, so it’s a great change,” he said.

Both Clippers teams, Armstrong said, are more evenly skilled than in past years.

“Meaning that some of our younger players, the Grade 9s, you can’t tell the difference from the rest of the team, because they’re very skilled. Which gives us a great advantage, because we play everybody and so when everybody is on the field, there’s not much difference between our starters and then our next group,” he said.

Dauphin enters the girls’ draw as the seventh seed and will face the 10th-ranked Hapnot Kopper Queens, Friday at 10 a.m., with the winner advancing to play the Niverville Panthers at 1:30 p.m., that day.

The boys, meanwhile enter provincials as the ninth seed and will open against no. eight, Frontier Mosakahiken Grizzlies of Moose Lake, Friday at 10 a.m. The winner advances to play the top-ranked Northlands Parkway Nighthawks of Winkler at 1:30 p.m.

Armstrong feels the Clippers have a good shot when it comes to provincials.

“It’s a tough sport. But I think we’re ready to go, definitely. We’ll keep playing and practicing and I think we have a good shot,” he said. “I think our girls have a really good shot at winning provincials. They’re a very strong team and our exchange students make us strong.”

The high school soccer program, Armstrong said, has come a long way thanks in part to the development of the players coming through the minor soccer program in the city.

Clippers girls coach Richard Kunicki said it has been a number of years since the Clippers have had two teams competing in soccer.

Both teams have played a number of tournaments, including the girls finishing atop the standings in a tournament in Swan River, a couple of weeks ago.

Kunicki liked the girls’ chances heading into zones and hoped to avoid having to play in a wildcard match for a spot at provincials.

Both teams, Kunicki said, played exceptionally well.

“Both girls and boys attacked the opposition with great tenacity and carried out the game plans perfectly,” he said, adding standout performances were put in by Raylyn Koshowski for the girls and Nick Plustwa, who scored seven goals for the boys, including hat tricks in both games. “Though every player had to contribute, the games were tough. We couldn’t be more proud,” he added.

Going into provincials, both teams have tough draws, Kunicki said, and will have to be at their best to get through the early stages.

“These are the strongest teams we have been able to field in Dauphin for a number of years, so we’re very excited. All the players involved have worked very hard since early August and we continue to get better with every game. So as tough as this tournament is, we believe in the players and we’re capable of doing well,” he added.

Both championship games will take place, Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

The tournament draws can be found on the MHSAA website at mhsaa.ca.

The Parkland Rangers were a little over two minutes away from their first victory of the young Manitoba U188 AAA Hockey League season, but instead had to settle for a single point in an overtime loss to the Eastman Selects, Saturday.

Eastman scored a 4-3 come-from-behind overtime win, Saturday, erasing a 3-2 deficit with 2:08 remaining in the third period and netting the winner, 3:21 into the extra session.

Despite the loss, Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot felt it was a great game for his young squad. But he also had high praise for the Selects.

“I like the way Eastman plays. They have an identity. I think their identity is just they’ve got nobody that’s flashy. They just go out and they out work you, they out hustle you, they do all the little things that make a team very efficient,” he said. “No disrespect to their lineup, but there’s no rock stars there. They’re all the same. They go out and out hustle you. They’re just very efficient.”

Carefoot felt the Rangers matched that efficiency in Saturday’s game and knew what to expect going into Sunday’s contest.

But as well as the Rangers played, they failed to equal Eastman’s offensive output, falling 10-1.

“There’s probably a few that we’d like back, but that’s the game. It’s all about minimizing our mistakes,” Carefoot said. “We’re going to learn from this. We want to be a team that is hard to play against. We want to be a team that is going to be just very efficient with all the little things that makes a team have success. We want to be Eastman, plain and simple.”

Carefoot credits his players for not quitting even as the score got away from them.

Given how young the Rangers are, Carefoot feels Sunday’s loss will be a good learning experience for his team.

“We’re learning something every period. It’s still early in the season, so there’s still runway left and we’re going to keep growing.” he said. “Hopefully we can find ways to be a little more efficient. We know we can compete with teams in our league. We proved that Saturday night. Eastman plays a hard brand of hockey and are very disciplined in their structure and details. We will keep moving forward.”

On Saturday, the Rangers play the 0-2-0-0 Wild in Winnipeg at 4:15 p.m., before heading to Teulon, Sunday, for a date with the 2-2-0-0 Interlake Lightning at 1:30 p.m.

The Dauphin Kings rebounded from their first loss of the season with two of their best games of the year, last week.

After dropping a 2-1 decision to the Selkirk Steelers, Oct. 1, Dauphin scored a 3-1 victory over the Virden Oil Capitals, Oct 5, followed by a dominating 6-2 win over the Neepawa Titans, Friday night.

All three games were at Credit Union Place.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley felt the Kings played a complete game against Virden.

“I thought our back pressure was outstanding and our even number and odd-man rushes. They’ve got a good team. They can be creative on the offence and we did give up some chances, but Sheff (goaltender Cole Sheffield) made some good saves when he had to,” he said. “But for the most part, we really had some good D-to-D and out. We had good exits, good speed through the neutral zone and we were patient enough to finally get some goals. That’s so important.”

Neepawa took a 1-0 lead late in the first period, while the Kings were creating all kinds of opportunities. The Kings eventually tied the game midway through the second period.

Dauphin broke the game open in the third, with five goals, to pull away with the victory.

“The work ethic and compete just finally caught up to them and we just found a way to score. The last two games have been really good.”

Even in the game against Selkirk, Hedley said, the Kings didn’t play that badly, but the Steelers worked hard and outworked the Kings at times. And they took advantage of their power-play opportunities.

Against Virden and Neepawa, Dauphin maintained its discipline allowing just one power-play chance in each game.

The entire lineup is playing well right now. Hedley noted the line of Gavin Nemis, Ethan Williment and Madden Murray had speed every shift, with Nemis picking up an assist with a backhand feed to Jordan Bax on a back door play.

“That’s an elite play, that kind of backhand pass right on the tape. That’s what the kid is. He’s a 17-year-old that’s got some tremendous upside. And Williment just compliments that line. Whether it’s with (Rhett) Perrin or Murray, they really work their butt off and I thought Murray was real good tonight,” he said.

The three rookie defencemen - Trey Gnetz, Karson Raymond and Aiden Murray - comprising the team’s third defensive pairing has excelled all season.

“They’re tireless. Their compete is unbelievable. Gnetz never gives up. Too many times he makes a move, but if he does lose a battle or lose the puck, he works his butt off to get back and you can’t ask for anything more,” Hedley said. “The whole game is about mistakes. If you make a mistake, it’s how hard you work to get it back that makes a difference. And that’s why he’s a difference maker, for sure.”

When the defence does make a mistake, Sheffield is there to shut the door. Through his first five games, the reigning goaltender of the month has a stingy 1.60 GAA and .931 save percentage.

Dauphin’s offence will get a boost with the addition of forward Cayden Glover, who was reassigned to the team by the Western Hockey League’s Prince George Cougars, last week.

After recording 40 points with the U18 Brandon Wheat Kings, Glover was drafted early by the Medicine Hat Tigers and signed there as a 16-year-old and was later traded to Prince George.

Last season, he scored seven goals and 12 points in 51 games.

Hedley said Glover is a good player that has a huge upside.

“We just want him to have fun again, get some touches and get some minutes and I know he’s going to contribute to our hockey club, for sure,” he said.

The Kings have just one game this week, a rematch with the Titans, Saturday at Credit Union Place at 7:30 p.m.

The team took the weekend off for Thanksgiving and will get back on the ice this week.

Kings court:

The game against Selkirk, Oct. 1, was head coach Doug Hedley’s 600th game as coach of the Kings . . . Dauphin sits atop the MGEU West Division with a 5-1-0-0 record and have allowed just 10 goals through the first six games. Only the 6-0-0-0 Winkler Flyers have allowed fewer goals against, giving up nine in their first six tilts.

The Dauphin Clippers girls 7s rugby team are provincial champions.

After winning the Westman High School Rugby 7s championship, the Clippers were crowned the first-ever 7s provincial champions at the first-ever provincial tournament, Friday in Brandon.

The Clippers clinched the league title by going 3-0 in the final of four jamborees, Oct. 3, in Brandon, hosted by the Vincent Massey Vikings.

Dauphin finished with an overall record of 10-1-1 for 21 points, three better than runners-up Crocus Plains Gold, which finished 9-3-0, also earning a spot at provincials.

For the Clippers, it is their second 7s championship in as many years and Clippers coach Shawn Sarkonak said it feels pretty good, noting Dauphin trailed Crocus by a single point going into the final jamboree.

“Our varsity squad was able to put it together and go undefeated on the day and take the league title,” he said.

Every player, Sarkonak said, pulled their weight throughout the season after losing quite a bit of depth from last year’s graduating players such as Brooke Miner, Chloe Fletcher, Emma Fox and Allee Hrechka.

“So we leaned heavily on the girls that played provincial this past summer, that brought the extra rugby in to lead the way and we came through in the end,” he added.

At provincials, the Clippers first defeated Steinbach, 49-5, then beat Crocus, 12-10.

Dauphin then faced Crocus again in the final, this time scoring a 28-20 victory and the first-ever provincial title.

“It feels amazing. It’s always nice to be the first ever, but it’s been a long time coming on getting an actual provincial title set up. Thanks to the work from Westman high school president Brian Yon, working with Tahnee Grosskopf in the Winnipeg and southeastern area,” he said. “Steinbach came and we were able to have a good afternoon of rugby and Dauphin was able to come out victorious.”

Once they knew who their opponent would be in the final, the Clippers knew what to expect, having faced Crocus a number of times in the Westman 7s league.

“We knew we had to shutdown a few of their key members. We knew if we shut them down and moved the ball wide and utilized our speed, good things would happen,” Sarkonak said.

Based on the team’s success this fall, Sarkonak likes the team’s chances in the spring 15s season.

“We have quite a few returning players from last year’s spring team that won the league and provincials, plus we had 11 players total take part in provincial rugby between the U18 program and the U16 Sask program. So we’re going to be leaning on them heavily,” he said. “Plus we’ve been able to have some new players with athletic back grounds and we’re looking forward to seeing how they transition from 7s to 15s.”

Once they got past the first-game nerves, the Parkland Rangers improved their play in the season opener against the Yellowhead Chiefs, Friday at Credit Union Place in Dauphin.

But it wasn’t enough to secure a victory as the Rangers fell, 3-2.

Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot wasn’t pleased with the team’s start, stating even the veterans were slow out of the gate.

“It goes back to the old, urgency, playing with relentlessness and it’s hard to work hard. I think for some it was an adjustment,” he said. “But as the game went on, I liked the second half of the game.”

The Rangers, Carefoot said, started creating more scoring chances in the latter half of the contest by getting pucks to the net.

“I liked the way our D played. I liked Carnegie up front. I thought he was noticable up front,” he added. “But I just think some of the veterans, for sure, they’ve got to start moving their feet a little bit more.”

Even during the pre-game warm up, the coaching staff noticed there appeared to be some nervousness among the players, many of whom were playing their first game at the U18 level.

“Even in the first period, the puck was like a grenade. And that was for everybody. It was exciting, with good support in the stands. So there were some jitters, for sure,” Carefoot said, adding the Rangers played through it and were a lot better in the third period.

It bodes well for the team in the future, knowing they didn’t quit.

“If we’re going to have success this year, we’re going to have to be a team that just really focuses on being really efficient with the little details. And that’s just being strong on the puck, winning battles and taking those battles personally,” Carefoot said. “Everything starts in the D zone and then you work your way up. Are you getting the puck deep? Or are you chipping it? It’s all those little things. Eliminating pucks through the middle. We always say, ‘girlfriends are pretty, hockey is not pretty.’ And we don’t want to be a team that’s pretty.”

Overall, Friday’s loss is a game the Rangers can build off of. Every shift, Carefoot said, is a teaching point.

“We’ve got a young group here and we’re going to be positive,” he added.

The Rangers will look to get into the win column when they host the Eastman Selects, Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

The Dauphin Clippers boys golf team won a bronze medal at provincials, Sept. 29, at the Pleasant Valley Golf Club south of Belmont.

Jackson Delaurier shot a 75 to finish one shot back of Neepawa’s Hayden Delaloye.

Boston Karlson shot an 82, while Cash McCallum finished with an 87 and Mitchell Rauliuk shot a 94.

St. Paul’s Crusaders won the provincial title on a tie-breaker over the Steinbach Sabres after both teams finished with a 236.

In the girls’ tournament, the College Jeanne Sauve Olympiens won the gold, with a 278, two shots better than the Carman Cougars.

Swan Valley won the bronze with a 289, led by Crystal Zamzow, who had the low girls’ score with a 70.

Only the top three scores go towards to the team’s overall total.

Cross-country zones

Dauphin hosted the Zone 8 cross-country regionals, Sept. 26, at the Northgate Trail System, with three runners finishing first in their categories.

Cecilie Larson in the varsity girls, Roman Polovinka in the JV boys and Liam Sobering in the varsity boys all won their races, while Ava Paziuk was second in the varsity girls race.

Also competing in the varsity girls race were Kara Paziuk, who was third; Calla Tabin who finished fourth; Rachel Desseaux who was fifth; and Ellie Czarnecki, who was sixth.

Other competitors in the JV girls race were Jessica White, who finished 11th and Emma Windsor, who finished 12th.

All athletes have qualified for provincials, Oct. 11, at the Asessippi Ski Hill.

Clippers sail to first win

The Dauphin Clippers football team hit the win column, Friday in Dauphin, scoring a 40-6 win over the ParkWest Outlaws.

Will Miner led the offence with 109 yards rushing on 11 carries, while Sully Fox ran the ball 11 times for 60 yards, including two touchdowns.

Cody Zurba was seven for 14 in passing for 60 yards.

The defence was led by Josiah Seale with four tackles, two assists, half a sack, one knockdown and an interception he returned for a touchdown. Lars Gudbjartson had six tackles, one assist and one interception. Jackson Cheater had five tackles, one assist, half a sack and one knock down, while

Declan Waggoner chipped in with three tackles, two assists, an interception returned for a touchdown and a knockdown.

Dauphin will now take its 1-3 record into Neepawa, Saturday, to face the 0-4 Tigers at 3 p.m.

The Dauphin Kings suffered their first loss of the season, Sunday, when they dropped a 2-1 decision to the previously winless Selkirk Steelers at Credit Union Place.

The loss came on the heels of a 4-3 overtime win over the Portage Terriers, Friday in Portage. That win improved Dauphin’s record to 3-0-0-0, until Sunday’s loss.

Naaman Hofer scored the overtime winner against Portage, just 56 seconds into the extra frame.

Myles Yearwood, Gabriel Bugeaud and Nolan Wickham had the Dauphin goals in regulation, while Nolan Nenow, Grant Dardis and former King Slade Stanick replied for Portage.

Cole Sheffield stopped 20 shots in the victory and Portage’s Gavin Renwick made 35 saves in the loss.

Special teams proved to be the difference against Selkirk.

In front of a crowd of 727 spectators, Deshon Frieson and Owen Wiehs each scored on a power play for Selkirk, while Jack Hodgins had a busy night, being called upon to make 37 stops in goal.

Ethan Williment was the only King to find the back of the net. Austin Seibel made his Kings debut in goal and made 19 saves.

Selkirk finished two-for-six on the power play, including four man advantages in the third period. Dauphin was scoreless in four chances.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said the Kings played well after the second period, with good puck control.

“They weren’t really getting any opportunities and we had some good chances,” he said. “You can’t kill eight minutes in penalties in the third period and not be on your heels a little bit. We had some good opportunities at the end, but couldn’t get it through. That’s what happens when you set yourselves back.”

Hedley felt the Kings rebounded well in the second period after falling behind in the first period.

“We didn’t come off the hop real good. Not being on the ice for a couple of days doesn’t help. We couldn’t get in the building (Saturday),” he said. “It is what it is. No excuses. They worked hard and found a way to win.”

Although the Kings had 38 shots, they didn’t really generate much in the way of quality scoring chances, something Hedley feels needs to improve.

“I think we’ve got to get better in the offensive zone. We do it all the time. We talk about creating offence. We didn’t drive the middle enough to get pucks to the net. And then we missed short side, high side instead of going far pad,” he said. “We’ve got to start doing some simple smart things. Intangibles win hockey games and it’s the little things that make the difference. We didn’t have any net front presence in the first period at all. And until we get that mentality and it becomes habit, then we’re going to let goaltenders see pucks. We’re not going to create offence for scoring if we’re not going to be willing to go to the hard areas.”

On the flip side, the Kings limited Selkirk’s chances.

“I thought we controlled the puck after the first period. And when we stayed five-on-five I thought we were pretty good,” Hedley said, adding the league has a lot of parity this season, much like it had the last few years. “It doesn’t matter who you play this year. The parity is unbelievable and the speed is there. There’s some good speed in the league and if we’re playing with speed and play fast, we’re a very tough team to play against. And in the second and third period we were that. We just couldn’t get the win.”

The Kings will get a stiff test tonight when they host the Virden Oil Capitals at 7:30 p.m.

With a veteran-laden lineup, the 2-2-1-0 Oil Capitals are among the favourites to win the MGEU West Division.

Following Tuesday’s game, the Kings will face the Neepawa Titans, who are off to a 3-2-0-0 start to the season and will not be an easy opponent.

Dauphin’s lineup was bolstered by the addition of veteran Alex Senf from the North American Hockey League.

Senf had 19 goals and 39 points with the Kings last season and was in the lineup against Selkirk.

“We know he can score, so we’re hoping that touch is contagious,” Hedley said.

Three rugby players from Manitoba were chosen to attend Canada’s women’s U18 West camp in Shawnigan Lake, B.C., last month.

Faith Burtnyck of Rapid City joined Dauphin’s Emma Fox, who is currently attending the University of Oklahoma, and Bree Walker of Ste. Rose at the camp, Aug. 14 to 20, with 40 players in total showing off their skills.

Walker, who is attending her Grade 12 year in Dauphin, was excited when she was selected to the camp.

“Because, obviously, it was an amazing opportunity. And I was also (surprised). I’ve only been playing rugby for one year. How does this just happen to somebody after so little a time?” she said. “So I was nervous. I was a year younger than everyone else, so everyone else was going to be older. They’ve been playing their whole lives and they’re going to be insane. It was my first year playing and I know I’ve improved a lot, but I was definitely nervous.”

Other than the trip to Ireland with the Parkland Pirates rugby program, the trip west was a new adventure for Walker.

“I’ve never been to B.C. in the summer,” she said. “B.C. was so pretty. It was a really great experience.”

The camp itself was intense, Walker said, adding the level of rugby was something she had never seen or played before.

Read the full in depth story in this week's Dauphin Herald!