Heads Held High

13 May 2013Mollie M-G, Mackenzie ’15 & Hannah W, Allard ‘15

This past Thursday May 9th and Friday May 10th the Junior Girls made the trip to the Islands Soccer Championships for the first time in four years. Earning their spot by beating long time rival Shawnigan Lake School in the Mid-Island Championship, the girls were ready for the fight.

Arriving at Francis Kelsey, the girls prepared for their first game against Stelly’s, the number one ranked team in the South Island. Knowing it was going to be a battle, the girls held on and played well. Finishing the first game with a loss was disappointing, but it shed light on ways to improve. The second game was against North Island ranked number two, Carihi. Dominating the play the entire game, the girls thought they could make this a win, but Carihi had a fast, cheetah like striker who was able to break through and score. With this game finishing with a 1-0 loss the girls headed back to the bus to ice and prepare for tomorrow.

Day two.

Although the first day of Islands was not promising, the girls still had fire and fight. Playing the third game on home turf, the team thought they could take it all. Claremont, an expectedly tough team, was held off by Brentwood’s strong defence, Lauren H, Isabelle D, and Mollie M-G. With an unbelievable goal by Kaela S, the game was tied for most of the first half, 1-1. With a few slips by our team and some powerful pushes from the opposing offence, Claremont was able to steal three more goals. Finishing our third game with another loss, we scurried back over to Francis Kelsey to play our fourth and final game.

The competition was Francis Kelsey. With the home team advantage and support of the crowd, the Kelsey girl played well. Brentwood played even better. With incredible players such as Avi S, and Karli S being a driving force and carrying the ball up the field, the girls dominated almost the entire game. With a breakaway the Kelsey girls were able to score in the last minutes of the first half. The second half started and the ball barely entered the Brentwood side. We kept possession and surged towards their net multiple times. We just couldn’t slam the ball in. The final whistle blew with a 1-0 score and the Kelsey players coming up on top.

Keeping their heads up, being proud to be able to call themselves eighth best on the Island, the girls congratulated the Francis Kelsey players and loaded back onto the bus. We reflected upon what next year’s season would bring.

Congratulation’s Brentwood Junior Soccer Girls and our coaches, Mr. Collis and Mr. Kulai.

Mollie M-G, Mackenzie ’15 & Hannah W, Allard ‘15

Where Students Choose To Be