Green was the colour of the new grass field in Kelowna, and silver was what shimmered in the pot at the end of the rainbow for the Prince George Kodiaks under-12 boys soccer team.
In their very first outdoor tournament of the season, the Kodiaks rolled to a second-place finish.
The Prince George Youth Soccer Association squad took a 4-0 record into the final against Pitt Meadows, then came out on the short end of a 7-0 decision in the championships game Sunday.
"We actually handled the teams we played pretty easily until we met that Vancouver Metro [League] team," said Kodiaks coach Rob Lewis.
"They just came off their [outdoor] Metro season and they finished second in Vancouver. That was the first time we've seen grass. They were pretty incredible for how hard they worked. They played with all the best teams and handled them. They were pretty excited and we're excited for them."
The team was picked from the PGYSA's Future Stars winter program, a house league that operates at the indoor facility on Winnipeg Street. The team of 11 had only two practices together before they hit the road for Kelowna.
"We just picked 11 gold-level players from the PGYSA winter program and that was pretty good, they're not even a true team," said Lewis. "They've been practicing all winter [as a Future Stars group of 64], so we figured we'd give them a little treat and end the indoor season with some games and kick off the outdoor season. Most of them will continue to play together in the outdoor season."
The Kodiaks started with a 2-0 shutout over Kelowna United. They beat Kelowna 4-3, defeated the Kamloops Blaze 3-1, then got by Kamloops Blue 4-3 in a shootout in the semifinal round.
The Kelowna game required a comeback effort from the Kodiaks.
"Our best game was probably our first one, but the best game for the boys to dig down was that 4-3 win over Kelowna," said Lewis. "We hit six or seven goalposts or crossbars, it wasn't even a close game, even though we had to battle back almost the whole time.
"[Michael Raper] tied it with about 10 minutes left and we won it [on a shot from Landon Kitchen] with three minutes left. That was a big character win. We handled them well, but kept getting behind, and they wouldn't quit. That was an emotional win."
Carl Vanderkraatz played all but two halves in net for the Kodiaks. Mason Legere was the backup netminder. Other members of the team Kyle Wilkinson, Gage Melanson, Liam O'Beirne, Daniel Maloney, Landon Kitchen, Luke Brbot, and Anthony Preston. Pete Brbot, Steve Raper and Tony Preston also coach the team.
The next tournament action for the U-12 boys is the Kamloops Slurpee Cup on the May long weekend. If winter weather doesn't rear its ugly head again, the team should have a few weeks at Rotary Field to prepare.
"We hear on May 7 we'll be allowed on own fields, we're hoping so," said Lewis.
