North Islands

12 May 2014Karli S, Hope ’14, Photos by Rissa A, Allard ‘15

This was it. It all came down to this tournament: we win – we move forward, we lose – we retire for the season. Amped and ready to give it our all, fourteen of us piled into the school bus, accompanied by our two incredible coaches, Mr. Horth and Mrs. Fougner. We made the long trek to Powell River, hopped off the bus, and jumped into a battle against Parksville’s Bellenas Whalers. Having lost to this team earlier in the season, we wanted to show them what we were truly capable of – winning. Despite battling hard, however, we came up short and weren’t able to secure the W. But this wasn’t the end. After a quick curbside lunch at the local grocery store, we were excited to take on Powell River’s Brooks. We fought hard and with a goal by Erin M, Allard ‘14 it was 2-1. Again, unfortunately, we couldn’t take this one home either, although we most definitely outplayed our opposition. After some much-needed beauty sleep, we still had the opportunity the next morning to earn ourselves a berth to Islands. And so, after a hearty dinner at Moose ‘n’ Eddies, a quick trip to Save on Foods, and some hotel team bonding, we headed to our rooms to catch some shuteye. When 7:20 am rolled around, all four of the cell phones in room 202 sounded their alarms. No lack of preparedness for us athletes, that’s for certain. And by 8:10 we had eaten our breakfasts, packed up our belongings, and successfully boarded the bus. We were on our way to play Shawnigan – this was it. Not only is this our forevermore rivalry, but also our last opportunities to secure a spot at Islands. Having beaten Shawnigan prior to this tournament gave us a slight boost of confidence but, as our Captain Karly D, Allard ‘14 reminded us: “Yes we beat them last time, but they’re still a good team.” We came onto the field with a bang and at 1-0 for them at half, we still had a chance. Then, a few minutes into the second half, one of Shawnigan’s players tipped the ball into their own net. We were now at 1-1. We fought hard, running back to hold the defensive line, pushing forward to pressure their goalie, and taking lots of shots. With only about two minutes left in the game, however, Shawnigan was somehow able to kick the ball into the back of our net, creating a 2-1 score for them. We knew that this was when it truly mattered – we didn’t have much time. We pushed, leaving it all out on the field. But when the final whistle blew, that was it. No more passes. No more shots. No more chances. Unfortunately, this meant that we were now heading home. And although this was disappointing to us all, we know that we wouldn’t have done anything differently, we put everything on the line. This tournament, yes, had its disappointments but it also had its laughs, its bonding opportunities, and its lesson in perseverance. Karli S, Hope ’14, Photos by Rissa A, Allard ‘15

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