Notre Dame and Se Se Wahum players battle for the ball in the final of the South Hill Invitational Soccer Tournament.

The first ever South Hill Invitational Boys Soccer Tournament went on Friday and Saturday at Gutheridge and Smith Fields.  After cruising through the round robin, the Notre Dame Hounds claimed the title with a 5-2 win over Se Se Wahum in the final.

Organizer Jeff Kitts says they were really happy with how the tournament went, "It went better than we could have imagined.  The weather held up, aside from the wind, and all the teams were happy with the variety of competition."

The tournament was in the 7-on-7 format and there were six teams taking part, including Riverview as the only Moose Jaw squad.  Notre Dame and Se Se Wahum were clearly the class of the tournament, picking up big wins on their way to the final and Kitts said playing that high caliber competition helped every one at the tournament.

"They actually play 11-on-11 and they were just short on numbers this weekend, so they just wanted a challenge," said Kitts.  "The skill level (on the two finalists) was very high, especially from the Se Se Wahum team.  Notre Dame played a very team based defence and probably scored on every chance they had."

Kitts, who coaches the Riverview Royals soccer team, says the tournament was a big confidence booster for his squad after they struggled in their Moose Jaw High School League opener, "This will probably be one of the last times we play 7-on-7 until the regional weekend.  We could see where we're strong in areas and lots of people got to play different positions.  We also realized that we can be competitive in 7-on-7 and we'll just keep practicing with the league here in Moose Jaw and it will only make us better."

Kitts adds that they had a lot of players that unexpected stepped up over the weekend as well and he says that was nice to see.

"We only had nine players, so two subs, and we asked a lot out of people that are normally role players.  They logged big minutes and for them that will improve their overall skill and it will help us because more of our team is building confidence."

The High School Boys Soccer league returns on Monday afternoon with Vanier taking on Central, 4:30pm at Gutheridge Field.

Notre Dame 5 Se Se Wahum 2

The Notre Dame Hounds controlled the tournament and were able to cruise past Se Se Wahum in the final game with a 5-2 win.

The Hounds got to the final by going undefeated in the round robin and then beating Bruno, 9-0, in the semifinals.

In the final, Notre Dame jumped out to a 3-0 first half lead on a pair of goals by Nikita Kurakin and one by Alexi Thibaudeau.

Se Se Wahum started to charge back in the second half and cut the lead to 3-2 on goals by Dallas Morin and Reyes Littlewolf, but that would be as close as they would get.  With Se Se Wahum pressuring for the equalizer, the Hounds were able to take advantage and score two more from Alex Love and Austin Papiler to seal the win.

Thibaudeau says the team was really happy with their performance in the tournament, "There was good competition and we pulled through.

"It's definitely a good confidence booster for our team and good practice too for positioning and skills for season games."

Notre Dame plays in the Regina High School Soccer League.