First 11 Field Hockey

6 January 2016Captains Kaela S & Delaney M

This season was definitely one to remember for the Girls’ 1st XI team. The first tournament was the Friendship Cup, which we hosted in Duncan on the turf. There was lots of interest to play on the 1st XI so we picked up 6 talented junior players and entered two teams. Not only was it fun, it also allowed everyone to get a lot of game time and it was a perfect way to get to know the new players and to see how everyone worked together. Both teams played well and improved, preparing us for the ISA tournament, which was held the next weekend at Crofton. This tournament is known for being very competitive and included teams that we would face throughout the season. We beat GNS 3-0, but lost to some strong Vancouver teams. We played York House for 5th, tied them during regulation play, but lost in the shootout. Our next important competition was our Island Championships. We knew we had to come top three to advance to the Provincial Championships so we started preparing. We had exhibition games against some of our local AAA schools and worked hard. At the tournament, we outplayed Lambrick Park, drew against the much improved home team GNS, and lost a close match against SMUS. A win in a shootout against GNS put us through to the final against SMUS. It was not our day as SMUS won the Island Championships; however, our second place finish secured our spot in the Provincials. Provincials was easily the highlight of the season. Twelve teams from across BC gathered at the UVic field for the three day tournament and we entered ranked in 5th. We won our first two games against GW Graham and Southern Okanagan. This gave us lots of confidence for our next game against Crofton. We opened the scoring and played one of our best games of the year, but could not secure the victory. Confident and encouraged, we advanced to the quarterfinals where we faced Seycove. The game was tied and we scored on the last penalty corner of the game; unfortunately, the umpire blew the play down a split second too early and awarded us a penalty stroke. Luck was not on our side as we missed the shot, had to go to shootouts to determine the game, and lost on the last shootout. With five key players missing on the final day of the provincials due to the midterm, we had to draw from our talent pool to complete our roster. The team bounced back from the tough loss, remained positive and determined, and faced GNS yet again, winning 1-0. The win gave us another shot at York. The girls played their best and left everything on the field. The game ended in a tie and went to a sudden death shootout. Rebecca scored and Brianne stopped Yorks’ attempt to score…WE WON! A great win and a 5th place at the Provincial. The team was more than happy with this result. Delaney M and Kaela S won the Grimes Award for Inspirational Leadership and Mitali P won the Hall Mackenzie Award for her Service and Contribution. We would like to thank Mrs Martin and Ms Davidson for their constant support and guidance throughout the season. Their tireless work and long hours could not have made us any better or stronger of a team. We would not have made it as far as we did without them and are excited for the future; it looks bright and promising. Captains Kaela S & Delaney M

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