The Junior Female AWG competition, held for girls born in or after 2000, was one of only two for which the Canadian territory of Nunavut entered a Futsal team. Nunavut's record in Indoor Soccer competition in the Arctic Winter Games is less than inspiring; wins and even draws have been as rare as hen's teeth since they first participated at the 2000 AWG, hosted by Whitehorse, capital of the Yukon Territory. Indeed, Canada's northernmost territory has only ever won one AWG Indoor Soccer medal: a bronze at the 2006 AWG, held on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. They came close to adding another bronze medal in the Junior Female competition at the same Games, but lost to Greenland in the third-place play-off.
Since then, Nunavut have never come close to winning a medal, and double-digit defeats are depressingly common. Still, they are nothing if not persistent, and there are encouraging signs of improvement, at least as far as Junior Female competition is concerned. They lost all five games in this tournament, but there were no cricket scores and they often proved tenacious opponents.
Nunavut proved stubborn foes for Alberta North, who eventually ran out winners of the group stage, winning four of their five group matches and defeating Northwest Territory - who finished fourth and had just edged out Greenland to qualify - in their semi-final. Group runners-up Yukon and third-placed Alaska met in the other semi-final; the Alaskans had comprehensively beaten their Canadian neighbours in their first group game, and defeated them again, by 2 goals to 1 in the semi-final.
Northwest Territories defeated Yukon in the third-place play-off by a flattering scoreline of five goals to one; it was the perfect revenge for a 4:2 defeat suffered at the hands of Yukon in the group stage. Kristine Stuparyk scored her side's first in the 13th minute, putting home the rebound from a Taran Gazankas shot which had hit the upright. NWT doubled their lead a minute later through Delaney Taylor, slotting home with the aid of a slight deflection.
Lara Herry-Saint Onge put Yukon back in the game five minutes into the second-half with a superb shot from distance with the outside of her right foot which was still rising as it hit the back of the net. Jennifer Lalonde crashed home a free-kick four minutes later to restore NWT's two-goal advantage. Three-one quickly became four-one when goalkeeper Sahara Lafferty's long throw fell perfectly for Stuparyk to fire home after outpacing the last Yukon defender. Stuparyk earned herself a hat-trick after team-mate Camryn Soucy harassed two Yukon defenders enough to win the ball and pass to the number 11, who was standing in space and merely had to turn round and tap the ball past Reena Coyne in the Yukon goal.
The scoreline was harsh on Yukon, who had played just as well as their eastern neighbours for most of the match, but were caught on the counter-attack just too often. Many of the team were in tears at the final whistle, but they should not be too despondent when they look back on the competition; the likes of Herry-Saint Onge, Coyne, Jewel Davies and Nyland will surely be back in AWG competition in the near future.
As for the Northwest Territories, Taryn Gazankas, Lindsey Mailloux, Delaney Taylor, Stuparyk, with her goals at just the right time, and the competent Lafferty in goal impressed above all. The rest of the team also performed well, and, given a couple of years, the NWT could have a very strong unit of girls taking part in the Juvenile competition.
Alberta North had never won the Junior Female competition, while Alaska were looking to retain the title and lift it for the sixth time in all. Alberta North, though, were not intent on bowing to tradition and scored in the second minute through Vanessa Loos, who clipped a through ball from Kennedy Gray past Shaylin Cesar in the Alaskan goal. Gray hit the bar minutes later during a very impressive first half for the girls in blue, for whom Loos and Raina Kickbush shone.
Alaska's danger-girl was Alexandra Ott, but Katerina Devassie was indomitable in defence and Cesar was also more than doing her bit in goal. Bailey Richarde was denied by the flying Cesar, and moments later half-volleyed over the bar when she was well-placed to put her shot on target. Ott clipped Alberta North 'keeper Taylor McDonald moments before half-time, causing the impressive goalie some momentary discomfort, and Tatumn Willis added to her distress right on the whistle when she beat her at the near-post to equalise.
The second half began with the Canadians on top, but the Alaskans were looking dangerous on the counter-attack. As the half wore on, Loos almost put Alberta North in front with an effort which beat Cesar but just trickled just past the near post, and then Hannah Woodley had the Alaskan at full stretch with a strong shot from distance. Alaska were now being restricted to shots from distance, most of which were wayward, but a good pass from Brianna Majors was picked up by Alexandra Ott, but she was foiled by a terrific tackle from Gray as she was winding up to shoot. Raina Kickbush, meanwhile, saw her shot fly just over the bar with a minute or so to go; it was Alberta North's last chance during normal time.
There was a half-hearted appeal for a penalty half-a-minute into extra-time when Gray appeared to be clipped in the Alaskan box by Kaylah Duncan, but this was rejected by the referee. Gray's team-mate Ashley Delint almost found a way through with a neat low shot from the left, but was foiled by Cesar, who just managed to stop the ball from squirming under her body. Willis for Alaska and Richarde for Alberta North caused both goalkeepers to be alert within seconds of each other; Willis' shot was beaten away by McDonald, and Richarde was foiled by the onrushing Cesar.
Extra-time under AWG rules consists of two periods, each lasting four minutes, and the infamous golden goal is used. The second half of extra-time had barely begun when Majors delivered another searching pass to the feet of Ott, who kept her cool and just about squeezed the ball past McDonald, who had got a hand to the ball but could not prevent it from dropping just inside her right-hand post. A golden goal for Alaska in all sorts of ways, and it ensured a sixth Junior Female title for the northernmost state in the Union, their first under Futsal regulations.
Alberta North will still be wondering how they managed to lose the match; they had more of the possession and more chances, but couldn't take them. Still, the future looks bright for this particular bunch of girls - with Loos, Kickbush and McDonald at its heart - who will surely move on to take part in the Intermediate Female competition at the 2018 AWG, which will be jointly held by the communities of Fort Smith and Hay River in the Northwest Territories. They will probably face most of the current Junior Alaskan side, for whom Ott, Willis, Cesar and Major starred, but the standard of play in the latter stages of the competition showed that the future of Futsal in the sub-Arctic is bright.
RESULTS
GROUP STAGE
07/03/16 Alaska 4:1 Yukon (Willis (3), Ott; Nyland)
07/03/16 Greenland 3:1 Nunavut (Sandgren, Løvstrøm, OG; Shooyook)
07/03/16 Alberta North 3:2 Northwest Territory (Richarde, Cesar, Majors; Gazankas, Mailloux)
07/03/16 Alaska 0:1 Greenland (Møller-Olsen)
07/03/16 Nunavut 0:6 Yukon (Herry-Saint Onge (2), Jones (2), Davies, Gaw)
08/03/16 Alaska 1:4 Alberta North (Duncan; Gray (2), Loos (2))
08/03/16 Northwest Territory 2:4 Yukon (Gazankas, Lalonde; Herry-Saint Onge, Jones, van Randen, Peterson)
08/03/16 Alberta North 4:0 Greenland (Richarde (2), Loos (2))
08/03/16 Alaska 2:0 Nunavut (Ott (2))
08/03/16 Greenland 1:3 Northwest Territory (Møller-Olsen; Stuparyk (2), Makletzoff-Cazon)
09/03/16 Alberta North 3:3 Yukon (Delint, Gray, Richarde; Jones, Peterson, OG)
09/03/16 Nunavut 0:4 Northwest Territory (Gazankas, Makletzoff-Cazon, Taylor, Mailloux)
09/03/16 Greenland 0:5 Yukon (Nyland (2), Peterson (2), Fekete)
09/03/16 Alberta North 5:0 Nunavut (Richarde (2), Loos, Gray, Woodley)
09/03/16 Alaska 2:1 Northwest Territory (Willis, Duncan; Lalonde)
SEMI-FINALS
10/03/16 Alberta North 3:1 Northwest Territory (Kyllo (3); Taylor)
10/03/16 Alaska 2:1 Yukon (Willis, Widener; Peterson)
THIRD-PLACE PLAY-OFF
11/03/16 Northwest Territory 5:1 Yukon (Stuparyk (3), Taylor, Lalonde; Herry-Saint Onge)
FINAL
11/03/16 Alaska 2:1 Alberta North (Willis, Ott; Loos)
SQUAD-LISTS
ALASKA: 10 Shaylin CESAR, 2 Marlena ROMANOFF, 3 Kaylah DUNCAN, 4 Katerina DEVASSIE, 5 Chalayna CULLER, 6 Alexandra OTT, 7 Brianna MAJORS, 8 Rebecca WIDENER, 9 Tatum WILLIS
ALBERTA NORTH: 1 Taylor McDONALD, 3 Ashley DELINT, 4 Vanessa LOOS, 5 Hannah WOODLEY, 6 Mariah KYLLO, 7 Raina KICKBUSH, 8 Bailey RICHARDE, 9 Jaimie GOMERY, 10 Kennedy GRAY
GREENLAND: 1 Sandra Maria ROTHBERG, 2 Annica JENSEN, 3 Diana SANDGREN, 4 Nanna BROBERG, 5 Ivalu BJERGE, 6 Diana LØVSTRØM, 7 Naduk MØLLER-OLSEN, 8 Ivaana MØLGAARD KLEIST, 9 Holga Dina THORNING
NORTHWEST TERRITORY: 71 Sahara LAFFERTY, 5 Camryn SOUCY, 7 Jennifer LALONDE, 10 Kristal GAMBLER, 11 Kristine STUPARYK, 12 Meegwun MAKLETZOFF-CAZON, 16 Taryn GAZANKAS, 18 Lindsey MAILLOUX, 19 Delaney TAYLOR
NUNAVUT: 1 Iakeisha FLYNN, 10 Christa EMIKTOWT, 11 Shawna KYAK, 12 Gabrielle PELKY, 13 Kiersten WILLIAMS, 14 Diana OKALIK, 15 Shelaine SHOOYOOK, 17 Inukshuk ISSALUK, 19 Grayce ZURHEIDE
YUKON: 1 Reena COYNE, 4 Georgia GAW, 6 Jewel DAVIES, 7 Lara HERRY-SAINT ONGE, 11 Charlotte van RANDEN, 14 Margaret FEKETE, 17 Sarah NYLAND, 18 Tyra JONES, 22 Bryn PETERSON
HONOURS-LIST
1990 Alaska
1992 N/K
1994 Greenland
1996 Greenland
1998 Yukon
2000 Alaska
2004 Yukon
2006 Alaska
2008 Alaska
2010 Alaska
2012 Yukon
2014 Yukon
2016 ALASKA
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Many thanks to Doris Landry, the recently-retired secretary of the Arctic Winter Games International Committee, for kindly allowing the reproduction of the above statistical information for the 2016 AWG, which is available via the following website, and for her general assistance:
http://awg2016.gems.pro/Default.aspx
Since then, Nunavut have never come close to winning a medal, and double-digit defeats are depressingly common. Still, they are nothing if not persistent, and there are encouraging signs of improvement, at least as far as Junior Female competition is concerned. They lost all five games in this tournament, but there were no cricket scores and they often proved tenacious opponents.
Nunavut proved stubborn foes for Alberta North, who eventually ran out winners of the group stage, winning four of their five group matches and defeating Northwest Territory - who finished fourth and had just edged out Greenland to qualify - in their semi-final. Group runners-up Yukon and third-placed Alaska met in the other semi-final; the Alaskans had comprehensively beaten their Canadian neighbours in their first group game, and defeated them again, by 2 goals to 1 in the semi-final.
Northwest Territories defeated Yukon in the third-place play-off by a flattering scoreline of five goals to one; it was the perfect revenge for a 4:2 defeat suffered at the hands of Yukon in the group stage. Kristine Stuparyk scored her side's first in the 13th minute, putting home the rebound from a Taran Gazankas shot which had hit the upright. NWT doubled their lead a minute later through Delaney Taylor, slotting home with the aid of a slight deflection.
Lara Herry-Saint Onge put Yukon back in the game five minutes into the second-half with a superb shot from distance with the outside of her right foot which was still rising as it hit the back of the net. Jennifer Lalonde crashed home a free-kick four minutes later to restore NWT's two-goal advantage. Three-one quickly became four-one when goalkeeper Sahara Lafferty's long throw fell perfectly for Stuparyk to fire home after outpacing the last Yukon defender. Stuparyk earned herself a hat-trick after team-mate Camryn Soucy harassed two Yukon defenders enough to win the ball and pass to the number 11, who was standing in space and merely had to turn round and tap the ball past Reena Coyne in the Yukon goal.
The scoreline was harsh on Yukon, who had played just as well as their eastern neighbours for most of the match, but were caught on the counter-attack just too often. Many of the team were in tears at the final whistle, but they should not be too despondent when they look back on the competition; the likes of Herry-Saint Onge, Coyne, Jewel Davies and Nyland will surely be back in AWG competition in the near future.
As for the Northwest Territories, Taryn Gazankas, Lindsey Mailloux, Delaney Taylor, Stuparyk, with her goals at just the right time, and the competent Lafferty in goal impressed above all. The rest of the team also performed well, and, given a couple of years, the NWT could have a very strong unit of girls taking part in the Juvenile competition.
Alberta North had never won the Junior Female competition, while Alaska were looking to retain the title and lift it for the sixth time in all. Alberta North, though, were not intent on bowing to tradition and scored in the second minute through Vanessa Loos, who clipped a through ball from Kennedy Gray past Shaylin Cesar in the Alaskan goal. Gray hit the bar minutes later during a very impressive first half for the girls in blue, for whom Loos and Raina Kickbush shone.
Alaska's danger-girl was Alexandra Ott, but Katerina Devassie was indomitable in defence and Cesar was also more than doing her bit in goal. Bailey Richarde was denied by the flying Cesar, and moments later half-volleyed over the bar when she was well-placed to put her shot on target. Ott clipped Alberta North 'keeper Taylor McDonald moments before half-time, causing the impressive goalie some momentary discomfort, and Tatumn Willis added to her distress right on the whistle when she beat her at the near-post to equalise.
The second half began with the Canadians on top, but the Alaskans were looking dangerous on the counter-attack. As the half wore on, Loos almost put Alberta North in front with an effort which beat Cesar but just trickled just past the near post, and then Hannah Woodley had the Alaskan at full stretch with a strong shot from distance. Alaska were now being restricted to shots from distance, most of which were wayward, but a good pass from Brianna Majors was picked up by Alexandra Ott, but she was foiled by a terrific tackle from Gray as she was winding up to shoot. Raina Kickbush, meanwhile, saw her shot fly just over the bar with a minute or so to go; it was Alberta North's last chance during normal time.
There was a half-hearted appeal for a penalty half-a-minute into extra-time when Gray appeared to be clipped in the Alaskan box by Kaylah Duncan, but this was rejected by the referee. Gray's team-mate Ashley Delint almost found a way through with a neat low shot from the left, but was foiled by Cesar, who just managed to stop the ball from squirming under her body. Willis for Alaska and Richarde for Alberta North caused both goalkeepers to be alert within seconds of each other; Willis' shot was beaten away by McDonald, and Richarde was foiled by the onrushing Cesar.
Extra-time under AWG rules consists of two periods, each lasting four minutes, and the infamous golden goal is used. The second half of extra-time had barely begun when Majors delivered another searching pass to the feet of Ott, who kept her cool and just about squeezed the ball past McDonald, who had got a hand to the ball but could not prevent it from dropping just inside her right-hand post. A golden goal for Alaska in all sorts of ways, and it ensured a sixth Junior Female title for the northernmost state in the Union, their first under Futsal regulations.
Alberta North will still be wondering how they managed to lose the match; they had more of the possession and more chances, but couldn't take them. Still, the future looks bright for this particular bunch of girls - with Loos, Kickbush and McDonald at its heart - who will surely move on to take part in the Intermediate Female competition at the 2018 AWG, which will be jointly held by the communities of Fort Smith and Hay River in the Northwest Territories. They will probably face most of the current Junior Alaskan side, for whom Ott, Willis, Cesar and Major starred, but the standard of play in the latter stages of the competition showed that the future of Futsal in the sub-Arctic is bright.
RESULTS
GROUP STAGE
07/03/16 Alaska 4:1 Yukon (Willis (3), Ott; Nyland)
07/03/16 Greenland 3:1 Nunavut (Sandgren, Løvstrøm, OG; Shooyook)
07/03/16 Alberta North 3:2 Northwest Territory (Richarde, Cesar, Majors; Gazankas, Mailloux)
07/03/16 Alaska 0:1 Greenland (Møller-Olsen)
07/03/16 Nunavut 0:6 Yukon (Herry-Saint Onge (2), Jones (2), Davies, Gaw)
08/03/16 Alaska 1:4 Alberta North (Duncan; Gray (2), Loos (2))
08/03/16 Northwest Territory 2:4 Yukon (Gazankas, Lalonde; Herry-Saint Onge, Jones, van Randen, Peterson)
08/03/16 Alberta North 4:0 Greenland (Richarde (2), Loos (2))
08/03/16 Alaska 2:0 Nunavut (Ott (2))
08/03/16 Greenland 1:3 Northwest Territory (Møller-Olsen; Stuparyk (2), Makletzoff-Cazon)
09/03/16 Alberta North 3:3 Yukon (Delint, Gray, Richarde; Jones, Peterson, OG)
09/03/16 Nunavut 0:4 Northwest Territory (Gazankas, Makletzoff-Cazon, Taylor, Mailloux)
09/03/16 Greenland 0:5 Yukon (Nyland (2), Peterson (2), Fekete)
09/03/16 Alberta North 5:0 Nunavut (Richarde (2), Loos, Gray, Woodley)
09/03/16 Alaska 2:1 Northwest Territory (Willis, Duncan; Lalonde)
TEAM
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
PTS
|
GD
|
ALBERTA NORTH
|
5
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
19
|
6
|
13
|
13
|
YUKON
|
5
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
19
|
9
|
10
|
10
|
ALASKA
|
5
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
9
|
7
|
9
|
2
|
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
|
5
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
12
|
10
|
6
|
2
|
Greenland
|
5
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
5
|
13
|
6
|
-8
|
Nunavut
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
1
|
20
|
0
|
-19
|
SEMI-FINALS
10/03/16 Alberta North 3:1 Northwest Territory (Kyllo (3); Taylor)
10/03/16 Alaska 2:1 Yukon (Willis, Widener; Peterson)
THIRD-PLACE PLAY-OFF
11/03/16 Northwest Territory 5:1 Yukon (Stuparyk (3), Taylor, Lalonde; Herry-Saint Onge)
FINAL
11/03/16 Alaska 2:1 Alberta North (Willis, Ott; Loos)
SQUAD-LISTS
ALASKA: 10 Shaylin CESAR, 2 Marlena ROMANOFF, 3 Kaylah DUNCAN, 4 Katerina DEVASSIE, 5 Chalayna CULLER, 6 Alexandra OTT, 7 Brianna MAJORS, 8 Rebecca WIDENER, 9 Tatum WILLIS
ALBERTA NORTH: 1 Taylor McDONALD, 3 Ashley DELINT, 4 Vanessa LOOS, 5 Hannah WOODLEY, 6 Mariah KYLLO, 7 Raina KICKBUSH, 8 Bailey RICHARDE, 9 Jaimie GOMERY, 10 Kennedy GRAY
GREENLAND: 1 Sandra Maria ROTHBERG, 2 Annica JENSEN, 3 Diana SANDGREN, 4 Nanna BROBERG, 5 Ivalu BJERGE, 6 Diana LØVSTRØM, 7 Naduk MØLLER-OLSEN, 8 Ivaana MØLGAARD KLEIST, 9 Holga Dina THORNING
NORTHWEST TERRITORY: 71 Sahara LAFFERTY, 5 Camryn SOUCY, 7 Jennifer LALONDE, 10 Kristal GAMBLER, 11 Kristine STUPARYK, 12 Meegwun MAKLETZOFF-CAZON, 16 Taryn GAZANKAS, 18 Lindsey MAILLOUX, 19 Delaney TAYLOR
NUNAVUT: 1 Iakeisha FLYNN, 10 Christa EMIKTOWT, 11 Shawna KYAK, 12 Gabrielle PELKY, 13 Kiersten WILLIAMS, 14 Diana OKALIK, 15 Shelaine SHOOYOOK, 17 Inukshuk ISSALUK, 19 Grayce ZURHEIDE
YUKON: 1 Reena COYNE, 4 Georgia GAW, 6 Jewel DAVIES, 7 Lara HERRY-SAINT ONGE, 11 Charlotte van RANDEN, 14 Margaret FEKETE, 17 Sarah NYLAND, 18 Tyra JONES, 22 Bryn PETERSON
HONOURS-LIST
1990 Alaska
1992 N/K
1994 Greenland
1996 Greenland
1998 Yukon
2000 Alaska
2004 Yukon
2006 Alaska
2008 Alaska
2010 Alaska
2012 Yukon
2014 Yukon
2016 ALASKA
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Many thanks to Doris Landry, the recently-retired secretary of the Arctic Winter Games International Committee, for kindly allowing the reproduction of the above statistical information for the 2016 AWG, which is available via the following website, and for her general assistance:
http://awg2016.gems.pro/Default.aspx
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