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Pitch perfect: Baker hosting soccer tournament

Mount Baker Wild are hosting a 10-team tournament this weekend at the school field and Moir Park.
75322cranbrookdailyMBSSSoccer
MBSS soccer coach Jesse Jarvis addresses his team during practice on Thursday afternoon. The Wild are hosting their home tournament this weekend at the school field and Moir Park.

The Mount Baker Wild will be hitting the pitch this weekend as the senior boys soccer squad hosts their home tournament at the school field and Moir Park.

Nine other teams are making the trek to the Key City, including the Wild's regional rivals from L.V. Rogers Secondary, which represents Nelson.

The Wild have only been in action in one tournament yet this season in Creston, but it was relatively successful with a berth in the final against the Nelson squad, where they fell 1-0 in penalty kicks.

"They were good," said Wild fullback Ryan Grady. "I think we got in their heads fast, which helped us a lot, and we figured that out pretty fast, which was nice, and they were just getting really frustrated.

"It was good, it was nice to have control at first, of everything, but then eventually they started playing us too, and it was pretty back-and-forth the whole game."

There are quite a few players in Grade 12 that are starting on the team, however, the roster also features some younger talent and has some international flavour with some exchange students.

"For the first tournament of the year, just getting to know all the players and stuff, it worked out pretty good," said Grady, a Grade 12 student. "Every communicated pretty well, there was lots of talking and, for having different countries and the things coming together, it was pretty good."

It was the first time the team got to see themselves as a complete unit out on the field, and everyone seemed to do their part, said Grady.

"For the most part, everyone's skill is up to date and no one really quit on you, everyone went as hard as they could," Grady said. "They just tried as hard as they could and never gave up on the team, which was really helpful and everyone was working well together."

Along with Nelson, the Wild are hosting other teams such as the Selkirk Storm out of Kimberley and squads from Invermere, Kalispell, Creston, Fernie and Nakusp.

"We're expecting to do pretty good, for the most part," said Grady. "Coming off the Creston tourney, getting into finals anyway, was a good starter for the whole team and everything and I think coming into this, everyone's kind of looking forward to playing Nelson again.

"We're pretty strong this year, which is kind of nice."

 



Trevor Crawley

About the Author: Trevor Crawley

Trevor Crawley has been a reporter with the Cranbrook Townsman and Black Press in various roles since 2011.
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