THE WESSINGTON SPRINGS U14 SOCCER TEAM placed third at the 2010 State Boys Recrational Tournament. They are, back from L-R – Coach Witte, Kylan Larson, Zach Paulson, Blake Messmer, Owen Witte, Trenity Kenobbie, Monica Jones. Front – Braden Jones, John Witte, Shyanne Kopfmann, Cassidy Musick, Bethany Schroeder, Austin Messmer, Dominick Havard.

The Wessington Springs U14 soccer team placed third at the State Recreational Tournament, held in Sioux Falls recently.

The players improved their skills throughout the season going undefeated in league play against Woonsocket and defeated Chamberlain, Pierre, Redfield and tied Mitchell during the regular season.

At the state tournament they started out against the top two U14 Boys teams in Sioux Falls and came up short in both contests. In both games the Spartan club played extremely well, but struggled against the athleticism of the Sioux Falls Teams. Going into the second day, they once again faced a Sioux Falls team, which was extremely physical. The match ended in regulation with a 1-1 tie. The contest moved to 2 sudden death overtime periods and remained tied. The game then came down to penalty shots and the Spartans prevailed. The entire team played exceptionally well against a very aggressive Sioux Falls team to gain victory. Blake Messmer played extremely well in the goal during this game and shut down the competition in the shootout. After winning this hard fought contest, it was determined we would play the same team again in the afternoon for 3rd and 4th place.

The players and the coach were a bit apprehensive after just finishing a hard fought battle. Sioux Falls went up with an goal early, but the Spartans came storming back winning the contest 4-1 to capture 3rd place.

“Congratulations to the U12 and U14 teams for a good showings at the state tournament,” said coach Lance Witte. ” I am encouraged to see the commitment and interest in soccer from the Springs Community. Thanks to John and Zachary Paulson for coaching the U12 Team and to Gwyneth Dean-Witte for organizing soccer for the Wessington Springs Community.”