After demolishing their competition all season long in the North Shore Secondary Schools Athletic Association West Division, it all came down to one game for Don Ross Secondary School's junior girls soccer team.
Outscoring their opponents 18-2 over the regular season, and running their record to a sparkling six wins and zero losses, the first-place Eagles met the East Division's fourth-place team, Seycove, in a win-or-go-home quarterfinal last Tuesday (May 3). Due to injuries, the Eagles were without four top players, and were left with only three substitutes.
Undeterred, the Squamish girls played on in a close game that could have gone either way. In the end Seycove "came out the better team, and we wish them luck," said third year teacher/coach Michel Lafreniere, of Seycove's 1-0 victory.
Co-coach Anne Bracey singled out goalkeeper Megan Bell for her outstanding performance, as Seycove's goal was only the third she surrendered all year. Bracey credits the "strong soccer community," as the main reason the relatively small school was able to have such an outstanding season.
The Howe Sound Secondary junior girls didn't quite fare as well as their cross-town counterparts, finishing the season with one win, four losses and an overtime defeat. This was enough to put them in fifth place out of the seven West teams, only one spot out of the playoffs.
Teacher sponsor Heather Lafreniere said their record was not indicative of their season, however, as she noted that their games were "very close and against very good teams."
She also pointed out that the team was a good mixture of grade 8, 9, and 10 players, and the future may be looking up for the Sounders, with a significant part of the team returning.
"The future is always looking good for soccer in Squamish."
Correction
In last week's article on HSSS's Ultimate team a quote by Tasso Lazaridis was incorrectly attributed to Kevin McJannet.
