Newfoundland and Labrador’s boys under-16 team made it a perfect week in Halifax, defeating Prince Edward Island 3-2 on penalty kicks in Sunday’s gold-medal final of their Atlantic soccer championship tournament.
The N.L. U16s were 4-0 in the tourney, one of eight regional age-group soccer championships that concluded Sunday.
Owen Sheppard — with his third goal of the tournament — and Josh Power scored for Newfoundland in a final that saw the teams tied 2-2 heading into the shootout, where N.L. prevailed 5-3.
Members of the championship team include Sheppard, Power, Aaron Budgell, Andrew Gamba, Ayo Owolabi, Ben Chislett, Ben Moret-Rideout, Cabhan O'Keefe, Colin Connors, Dylan Hartson, Eric Ardis, Hashem Khalifa, Jeffrey King, Josh Reimer, Keaton Barry, Kyle Ryan, Liam Lundrigan, Nathan Brake, Riley Kelloway and William Gamperl.
The team’s head coach is Ryan Caines, with assistant coach Bill Lundrigan and manager Lino O’Keefe.
It was the best finish for a Newfoundland team on Sunday.
Three other sides from the province earned silver medals in their competitions.
At Portugal Cove-St. Phliip’s, the host N.L. side lost 1-0 to Nova Scotia in the gold-medal game of the girls U14 event. In the Atlantic girls U13 championship, being held concurrently at the Rainbow Gully pitch in Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s, Newfoundland finished third, ending its schedule with a 2-0 win over P.E..I.
Other N.L. teams with runner-up finishes were the boys’ U14 team, which dropped a 2-0 decision to New Brunswick in a final played at Charlottetown, P.E.I., and the province’s girls U16 entry, which was blanked 2-0 by Nova Scotia in their championship game at Moncton, N.B.
The boys U13 team from Newfoundland beat host P.E.I. on penalty kicks to finish third at their event in Charlottetown, while the N.L. boys U15 side (in Halifax) and girls U15 entry (in Moncton) were both fourth.
