MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- The Central Cyclones are back at the top of the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association 4A boys soccer mountain.
And even though it was once again by the closest of margins, the perennial provincial championship contenders were able to find a way to get the job done.
The Cyclones took a 3-2 win on penalty kicks over Chief John Keenatch in the semifinal before downing Yorkton Sacred Heart 3-1 in the gold medal game to claim their third provincial gold medal in the last four seasons in Yorkton.
The provincial tournament started with a semifinal game that was as close as could be, with the teams tied after regulation. Central would outscore Keenatch 3-2 in the penalty shootout, though, finding an all-important win in a situation that was a bit of an Achilles’ heel last season.
“That was pretty nervewracking,” said Cyclones head coach Holly McCorriston. “We practiced shootouts a lot this season because last year we went to shootouts and didn’t do well, so that worked out as planned.”
Then came the title game against an extremely familiar foe in Sacred Heart. The teams had played in two championship games over the previous two weeks, with Central winning the city championship 3-2 and Yorkton taking a 2-1 win in the regional final.
“The players all know each other, they play year-round in different leagues and some of them even play on the same teams,” McCorriston said. “There are often similar habits and styles so coming up with ideas when you see that team and having to adjust as you go, it’s important. I’m sure that’s what did it, if we hadn’t changed what we were doing then we could have been in the other boat.”
Hunter Therrien scored for Central in the first half and the game was tied 1-1 at the break. Jean-Francois Mendes gave the Cyclones the lead for good in the second half and Patrick Pryadko added an insurance marker on a penalty kick late to finish things off.
The halftime adjustment saw Central move more to their strengths in the face of what Sacred Heart was showing them.
“They changed their formation every time we played us, so we had to adjust to play to what was going on… they had a more defensive form, so we played to that, and ended up playing from the back,” McCorriston said. “We’re good at that, we have a strong defensive line and we were able to press them from the back and that helped make a difference.”
It certainly didn’t hurt to have the ability to put waves of fresh legs on the field, either. The Cyclones had one of their largest teams in history and had 31 players at their game Saturday, giving them all sorts of options to wear Yorkton down as the game progressed.
That was a product of the ‘training squad’ system Central has in place, with the team able to hold intra-squad scrimmages throughout the season -- something that helped prepare the less-experienced players for when their time came Saturday.
“A lot of the players play during the regular season but when the playoffs happen they’re not quite at the level for playoffs, so they’re there to support the team and in case of injury,” McCorriston explaned. “But we used almost the other half of our bench entirely, and it was great that everyone was there, so that really helped get the job done.
“Throughout the playoffs, we were able to use each of our players for something they’re good at, which is nice because as a coach you want to see all your players play. So when we say we need you to do this and they can, it’s important.”
With another provincial championship in Central’s trophy case, the Cyclones now turn their attention to next season. While there’s the potential they could move up to 5A if the school population grows enough, the team is keeping a ‘if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it’ plan at this point.
“Having that training squad helps with the year-to-year turnover because we have bigger bench coming up,” McCorriston said. “So it’s not ‘all the Grade 12s are gone, what are we going to do’ each year, we already know who our starting line will basically be next year, because they’ve trained all year. I think that has something to do with (the continued success), we’re consciously training and building our team from year-to-year and that can make a big difference.”
Central has now advanced to provincials in six straight seasons, not including the COVID-cancelled 2020 campaign. They won the provincial title in 2022 and 2021.
