The Springbank Phoenix senior boys soccer team rose from the ashes of the zone finals to win the Rocky View Sports divisional banner last night against the Bert Church Chargers, 1-0.

Just one field over the Cochrane Cobras staged a second-half comeback to claim a 4-3 bronze medal win against the W. H. Croxford Cavaliers.

The Cobras bounced back from an early 2-0 deficit to beat the Cavaliers 3-2 in last night's bronze medal match.

The Cavaliers took a 2-0 lead with an early offensive turnover and a penalty shot goal. The Cobras got one back before the end of the half then scored twice early in the second to take a 3-2 lead.

The Cavaliers refused to surrender and fought back to tie the game 3-3. Despite solid goaltending, the Cavaliers succumbed to the Cobras' constant offensive drives. The Cobras netted one more to take the game

Cobras coach Carolyn Mcleod says the bronze medal matchup was a hard-fought nailbiter. She says her team couldn't afford to take their foot off the gas for one minute and when they did the Cavaliers were there to capitalize.

"We'd get up on them a little and they came crawling right back. We could never let our guard down for a second. They were pretty tough and we had to fight through every minute of that game."

"We had quite a few posts and lots of chances. There were a couple of unlucky breaks, but fortunately, we were able to finish."

She admires the heart displayed by her team.

"We just lost two games in a row and they still came to this game, the bronze game, with all sorts of heart and smiles. That's what it's all about."

The Cobras are losing four key players but have lots of rising talent and should be strong next season, says Mcleod.

Last night's matches at Monklands Park in Airdrie ended three hard days of soccer for both the Phoenix and the Cobras. It's been a multi-medal week for both.

The Phoenix bounced back from a loss to St. Joseph's Collegiate, of Brooks (blue), in the zone finals to win the RVS divisional banner last night.The Phoenix advanced to the RVS divisional finals with a 1-0 win over the Cobras in the semifinal action, June 4. The game came down to a goal in the final minute of play. The next day, the Phoenix again beat the Cobras, 4-1, in the zone championship hosted by Cochrane High.

It was St. Joseph's Collegiate, of Brooks, that went on to win the zone championship. Springbank got silver and the Cobras bronze.

To win gold in the RVS divisional final,  Phoenix did what no one else managed to do this season; beat the powerhouse Bert Church Chargers. Both the Phoenix and Cobras suffered their only regular-season losses to the Chargers.

The day prior to the zone final, Phoenix head coach Jen Mensah said she had confidence the game was winnable, despite losing to the Chargers 3-0 midway through the season.

"We were missing a few players when we played them the first time. We didn't have a great game and didn't really play as a team."

She said her team had a balance of strong veterans and talented younger players this season.