The Red Deer Renegades barely broke a sweat while cruising to the provincial Under-18 Boys Tier 2 soccer championship at the Collicutt Centre during the weekend.
The Renegades thumped Calgary MAC United 6-1 and ripped Medicine Hat 12-1 before defeating the Calgary CNS Strikers 4-1 in the championship final Sunday.
“I think we peaked at the right time,” said coach Ado Sarcevic. “When we started in November we played against these guys (Strikers) in our tournament and lost 5-4 to them.
“That just shows how hard the players worked and how much they matured individually and as a team.”
Sarcevic and his players had a good feeling heading into the provincials.
“We were really ready for this weekend and we showed that with the way we played in our last couple of league games and an exhibition game against Red Deer College,” said the coach. “So we were kind of confident going into this tournament that we were going to do good. You always hope for the best.”
• The Renegades U18 Tier 2 girls also struck gold at the Collicutt Centre, beating the SW Fury of Calgary 3-2 in the final.
Earlier, the Red Deer squad blanked Calgary Chinook 2-0 and defeated Edmonton Mill Woods 5-3.