Saskatchewan women repeat as national soccer champions

REGINA —This past weekend, Canada Soccer along with FC Regina hosted the Futsal Canadian Championships in Regina.

Saskatchewan was represented by Yorkton United FC on the men’s side and SK Impact FC on the women’s. Both teams were coming off successful runs at Sask Cup Futsal where they were named provincial champions. 

The tournament culminated on Sunday afternoon as the SK Impact FC women met Quebec representative Underdogs FC in the Canadian Championship final in front of a sizeable crowd at the Brandt Centre.

Team Quebec would open the scoring in the 6th minute to take an early one-goal lead. Shortly after, Taniel Gay scored the first goal for Team Saskatchewan in the ninth minute to tie the game at one. In what was a tight contest with no room for error, Jade Houmphanh was able to find an opening in the 17th minute to give Saskatchewan the lead at the half.  

Team Quebec would score the only goal of the second half and the gold medal match was headed to extra time tied at two.  

The rules of the championship called for two five-minute halves of extra time in which the entire period would be played. Saskatchewan once again opened the scoring on Jade Houmphanh’s second goal of the match, but were quickly matched by Quebec leaving the score tied at 3 at the half of extra time.  

Saskatchewan would once again strike first in the second half of extra time with Jade Houmphanh notching her third goal of the match to give Team Saskatchewan a 4-3 lead. With just under two minutes remaining in extra time, Team Quebec found an opening and tied the score at 4. The score remained tied as time expired, and the game headed to penalty kicks. 

Team Saskatchewan was first to kick with Leesa Bandula getting the nod. Bandula was poised with her shot, beating the Quebec keeper on the right side to give Saskatchewan the lead. Shooting first for Quebec was their goalkeeper who was successful with her try, tying penalty kicks at one.

 Saskatchewan then called on Taisa Gabruch, who blew the ball past the keeper to give Saskatchewan the lead once again. The second shooter for team Quebec was unsuccessful, shooting the ball high over the net.

Team Saskatchewan then looked to Erica Hindmarsh, who capitalized on her opportunity, scoring on the left-hand side as the keeper moved right. Jadyn Steinhauer made a clutch save on the next Quebec attempt, and Saskatchewan led penalty kicks 3-1.

The next shooter for Saskatchewan was denied by the Quebec keeper, a huge save to keep her team alive. The fourth shooter for Team Quebec scored, and Saskatchewan took a 3-2 lead into the final attempt for each side.

With the game on the line Team Saskatchewan turned to none other than Jade Houmphanh, who had already accumulated three goals in the match. Houmphanh came up clutch driving the ball off the Quebec keeper and into the net to secure the National title for Saskatchewan. 

The victory marks the third medal in as many years for Team Saskatchewan and the second national title in a row.

Jade Houmphanh was named tournament MVP with 12 goals in four contests and the game winning kick in the championship game. 

Tournament summary

Both teams kicked off their run at the Canadian Championships on Thursday, April 10, starting with the eomen looking to defend the national title for Saskatchewan. The women got off to a hot start, defeating Alberta representative Calgary Impero FC by a score of 14-3.

The men took on two-time defending champions, Ontario representative 9 de Octubre FC, holding them to a 0-0 draw until the last two minutes of the first half before giving up three goals to head into half down 3-0. Yorkton United came out strong in the second half tying Ontario 3-3 but ultimately fell 6-3. 

Friday saw the women defeat Nunavut FC 18-2 while the men took on Alberta representative Edmonton Rangers SC. Team Alberta came out strong and never looked back defeating Team Saskatchewan 16-4. 

Saturday, the women would face their toughest test of the round robin in Ontario representative Windsor Caboto FC. It was a tight contest right into the final minutes when Team Saskatchewan was able to score to take a two-goal lead and put the match out of reach, defeating Ontario 8-6 and securing their place in the gold medal match.

The men took on Nunavut representative Rankin FC defeating them 13-6 to earn their way into the fifth place match on Sunday. 

Sunday, the men were up first taking on B.C. representative FC Brazil Vancouver. It was a tight game with B.C. hanging on to a one-goal lead late in the match. Yorkton United FC poured on the pressure late but were unable to tie it up, despite several close chances, ultimately falling 3-2 and finishing in sixth place.