Senior Girls High School Soccer 2005

[Bloodthirsty]

Yes.

There is a bitter rivalry between the 2, and it's a great way for our Grade 12's to go out (and theirs..... ) . I'm biased but I'd say we took it to them the whole first half and stymied them in the second. Central is the team to beat, but on any given day.....

See you in CR.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Is that you, Fernando? If not, is Mr. Torres still coaching at Handsworth, Bloodthirsty?

 

[Bloodthirsty]

Is that you, Fernando? If not, is Mr. Torres still coaching at Handsworth, Bloodthirsty?

No and No. Fern decided to stick with golf this year. Oops!

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Wow, that's surprising. Those golf 'coaches' are the slackest around, at least in our school they are. It is hard to call them coaches when all the players on the team are teaching them how to play. Is Fern one of those 'coaches'? I look forward to meeting you up in Campbell River and sharing a beverage.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Well, it looks like Bloodthirsty and the Captain will be colliding in the provincials. Nice fcuking draw by the way.


South Delta
Handsworth
Point Grey
Carihi



Oak Bay
Lord Byng
Seaquam
Semiamhoo


Burnaby Central
Centennial
Dover Bay
North Surrey

Kelowna
Fleetwood
Mount Douglas
Kitsilano


I'm gutted with this draw as Handsworth is obviously one of the strongest teams at the tournament. Point Grey is a good team who we have played but they weren't at full strength. I know that for a fact. Carihi might be the weak one of the group but then again, you never know as they are the host team.


Early predictions for group winners.....


Pool A - Handsworth/South Delta/Point Grey
Pool B - Oak Bay
Pool C - Burnaby Central
Pool D - Fleetwood

 

[Bloodthirsty]

Ouch! Don't know how they do the pools.....Nasty.

 

[heanjob]

Nice pic of the SD Hoops in the Surrey/Delta Leader. Fleetwood Dragon coach was moaning about availabilty of his key players for provincials? No quotes from Captain?

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Heanjob,

That's not the South Delta paper and I heard rumblings of them missing 5 starters for provincials. I hope it's not true because they could win their pool with them.....


I haven't seen the photo but it's always good to see the Hoops.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Off to Campbell River tomorrow for the provincials. Good luck to the Devils and to Bloodthirsty's Royals, at least in four of their games.


Bloodthirsty,

We'll have to hook up for a pint at and after the coaches meeting. Cheers.


Hail Hail

 

[Bloodthirsty]

I'm not a coach, but good luck to your Devils (in most games) at any rate..anyone but the "cheaters"..

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Well, another year in the books and it has been a very successful season for our girls. We finished the year with 17 wins, 3 losses, and 2 ties. Here is a wrap-up of our Campbell River 'experience'.....

Things started off nicely as I stopped by SC's house to pick up our tournament t-shirts. The shirts were FANTASTIC and the girls absolutely LOVED them. Thanks, S.C. and C.J.

We(the coaches) caught the 12:45 ferry and had an entertaining ride up to Campbell River despite dropping a few bills at the casino.

Upon arrival, we got the keys to the girls rooms and placed their tournament bears and CDs on their pillows. We knew we would be gone at the coaches meeting when they arrived so they had a nice surprise. We unveiled the shirts the following morning before our first game and I don't think the girls took them off, other than to play their games.

Our first game was against the host Carihi. We started off poorly, especially in the passing department. Carihi was playing a 4 - 5 - 1 system, which was obviously designed to stifle us through the middle, where we are strong. It worked as our girls continued to try and go through the middle, despite being encouraged to get the ball wide so we could get around them. We had a breakaway about 10 minutes into the game and our National team player, who ended up playing, was stopped by their keeper. This would have been huge for us because it would have forced them to open things up a bit. The rest of the half was played evenly, with neither team creating any more good chances. We started off better in the second half and were able to pin them in their end for awhile creating a couple of decent chances. Unfortunately, thier goalie was solid but I felt like we were still going to score, considering the amount of goals we have scored this season. They earned a corner with about 20 minutes to go in the game and scored, thanks to some slack marking. This was the 4th goal out of 5 we have given up recently scored directly from corners. This was especially frustrating because we addressed this issue before the game AND at half-time. After that, it was a matter of them holding on, and they did. I give them credit because I believe they outworked(not outplay) us. Despite this, we created enough chances to win this game but struggled to find the net......Point Grey and Handsworth had just finished in a 0 - 0 draw, so that meant two wins for us, and at least one slip up by Carihi and we would be in the semi-finals.

Knowing that we had to win the next two games to have a chance to qualify really sparked our girls. We played Point Grey off the park for the first 55 minutes of the game. The first half was probably the best we have played all year and Pt. Grey couldn't get the ball out of their end. Once again, we created 4 GOOD chances but were unable to finish. A stonewall penalty was denied when our midfielder broke through their back line and was taken down from BEHIND. A disgusting non-call by the ref and there was worse to come. The second half started off just like the first with us TTP all over the field. As I said, I couldn't have asked for more from our team, except of course, scoring a goal. 15 minutes into the second half, we had a breakway again and this time hit the inside of the post(square post) and the ball rolled across the line but it stayed out. Then the play which decided our fate in the tournament in my opinion happened. With the score still 0 - 0, our striker broke through their defense and struck a cracker, which hit the underside of the bar and came down inside the goal. From our angle, it looked rather obvious that the ball had crossed the line. The linesman(who was about 81) pointed to center to signal a goal. For some reason, the ref decided to ignore him and let play on, claiming afterwards that the linesman had made the right call. At this point, we would have been up 1 - 0 as several people, including two impartial coaches, said the ball was AT LEAST a yard over the line before it bounced back out. We continued to play good football when they received a nice break. On one of their long balls forward, we had cleared the ball to about 35 yards away from goal, which was picked up by one of their midfielders. One of our midfielders challenged her as shot, and the ball went off our defenders foot and blooped over goalie's head. We couldn't believe what had happened. At this point, about 15 minutes to go, we tried to tie it up and then hopefully go for the win, but it wasn't to be. They earned a corner and our keeper unfortunately tried catching the ball but pushed it into our net. So with that series of events, we were out of the running to win the provincials. I was furious with the officials and for good reason. One of the assistants was being confrontational all game, which was really annoying to all of our players on the bench too. To say I was gutted for the girls would have been the understatement of the century. After watching some of the teams there, I knew we had a chance to win the tournament. Their coach, who I went to U.B.C. with for a year just shook his head after the game in disbelief with not only the result but the fact that our 'goal' didn't count. He was very classy about it and he told me at the banquet that his girls walked off the field saying to him that they couldn't believe they actually won that game. Of course, this didn't help matters much, but I guess it was some small consolation. Next up was Bloodthirsty's Handsworth who had to beat us to go through to the semi-finals.

I wasn't sure how our girls would react with nothing to play but they played their heart out. I started the four girls who didn't play at all in the second half of our game against Point Grey. Handsworth is a very good team, with lots of individual skill. However, I thought we matched up very well against them, especially in the first half. They went up 1 - 0 on a botched clearing attempt by us. Then we finally got a break that we needed. One of our players hit a high blooping shot from about 35 yards out and keeper mistimed it, only to see it bounce over her head. 1 - 1. About 10 minutes later, we scored a cracker after a super run from one of our strikers. Both teams continued to create chances and Handworth was denied but looked like a penalty to me and everyone else at the game, but not according to the man in the middle. However, they scored the game-tying goal before half-time after their striker gained advantage by using her hand. Of course, the ref said she didn't mean to use her hand, so he let it go. The official had his flag up because he noticed it. However, this time, the ref let it go. Our girls were pretty choked because it was pretty obvious to them...Anyway, the half ended up 2 - 2 and it was certainly entertaining for the spectators. In the 2nd half, Handsworth started to take over in terms of territorial play but were unable to create any outstanding chances. They were always dangerous on their corner kicks, mainly because of our tendency to leave players at the worst time. We were looking ot counter-attack at this point and were having some success. With about 10 minutes to go, we earned a free-kick just outside of the 18 after a push on one of our players from behind. Our midfielder stepped up and hit a nice free-kick. 3 - 2. Meanwhile, Point Grey had just scored against Carihi to go up 1 - 0, so this result meant PG was through and Handsworth was out.......We managed to hold on the rest of the game and beat a very good Handsworth team. The girls were VERY pleased with their performance and for good reason. Handsworth was better than the other two teams but we still managed to beat them. You really do need a few breaks to get to any final.

We played Semi in the afternoon and defeated them 3 - 2. We played Mount Douglas this morning but unfortunately, we had 4 players pick up knocks in the Semi game and none of them could play. Still we were up 1- 0 at the half but saw that slip away with a missed clearance by a defender and a shot from 30 yards(a blooper), go right through our keeper's hands. It was the same keeper who was in for both goals yesterday but that's the way it goes. The game ended with lots of tears, not because of the loss, but because of the end of a very successful and enjoyable season. I've been very fortunate to coach these girls over the last 4 years in particular but we are going to lose a bunch of key players for next year. We will be looking to try and make it 5 years in a row, but this will be a very difficult task.

Parting thoughts of the tourney......at times, questionable officiating with the fields being too far apart. Unfortunately for the Carihi committee, last year's tournament in Sardis was absolutely world-class. It was a very tough act to follow, although the officiating was very similar in both events. Anyway, sorry for the long post but I thought our girls deserved it. Other than a poor first half against Carihi I was very proud of everyone of them......Hail Hail South Delta Devils.....


BTW, Celtic Way was a big winner for us at the OTB.

Bloodthirsty, were you able to make it up to Campbell River?



Hail Hail

 

[One Dart]

I don't think Captain summed up the event enough , so I will just add a few little bits. The Posse did a tremendous job of keeping the CB&W at our hotel in business, especially on wednesday. The phantom noise complaints were appreciated, thanks to the hotel for putting two 70 year olds beside our room and on a floor with an entire team. There were some russian dancers sighted on thursday morning who looked absolutely brilliant.

On a side note, the girls were fantastic, right up until we were leaving the hotel and they gathered in a circle to sing You'll Never Walk Alone. Definitely frustrating when things are turned on their head because of a head scratcher by two officials. Must admit that I am still gutted, the expectations and the knowledge of how the tournament ended contributing to that.

SC, the shirts were awesome. Thanks.

On to next year I suppose where the Devils will have a decidedly different, and younger team. We better get to work on the drive for five!

Campbell River and JJ: WBFY!

We Shall Not Be Moved

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Yes, the Russian dancers looked very stylish. We will be a completely different team next year and hopefully we can find a goalie.


JJ/CampbellRiver WBFY indeed!


You forgot to mention, One Dart, that they put a family with 10 and 8 year-old kids, along with the family dog beside us for our last night there. I'm sure they were looking to set trouble up. Of course, we were well behaved and decided to take our social elsewhere. It's all about angles.....


Nice to see that there is no coverage in the paper today. Well done, Province.


Hail Hail

We Shall Not Be Moved

 

[Can'tHeadABall]

Nice to see that there is no coverage in the paper today. Well done, Province.

Well done Cappy on your team's success this season.

From a credible source, the lack of coverage was due mainly because the host did not forward the info to H.T. At least that's my info.


CHAB

 

[One Dart]

With the poor performance that host put forward this year, except on their spy budget, that is not a real surprise.

 

[Bloodthirsty]

The 5 seconds that changed our weekend.....Point Grey scores on the field beside us followed by the previously described well taken Devil free kick. Yes, I was there, and going to seek you out before our game but you seemed to be.....er...busy.

What a wacky weekend with yourselves, Oak Bay, the cheaters (who really didn't seem to be cheating once I saw their roster) and of course the mighty Royals crapping the bed. We ended up meeting both Oak Bay and Burnaby Central as we hoped....well, OK, not EXACTLY as we hoped.

The game versus SD was well worth the price of entertainment. Your description of the game was pretty accurate, with both of us getting shafted by the refs (SD worse than HSS in my opinion). When we didn't get a goal out of the 2nd half goalmouth scramble that featured a goal post and 2 saves by your keeper who isn't a keeper...I knew we were in trouble.

Compliments on your first game attire (whatever it was....I was thinking Star Wars....but I guess that was the Russian dancers), and hope to see you next season.

PS Is the reffing always that shite?

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Nice to hear from you, Bloodthirsty. I'm sorry I was busy for the game but I was being 'chastized' for the game against Point Grey. That's all I can say about that.


Yes, Bloodthirsty, the refs have been DIABOLICAL the last 3 provincials but last year's officials have been the worst of the three believe it or not. One Dart thinks this year's crews were but basically you could toss a coin to determine that. Yes, the Russian dance costumes were nice, followed by the Sombrero theme. The 70s outfits were done as per tradition. It was a whacky tournament to say the least but I will still offer congratulations to Point Grey, who may not have been the best team, but they ended up the winners. How are Handsworth looking for next year, Bloodthirsty. They were a good team, probably the best we've played all year, with Fleetwood coming a close second.....


Yes, CRiver certainly went over the spy budget for the weekend. Apparently, it's about more than angles in some situations.....

Congrats to Handsworth too for a very successful year and of course knocking out our nemesis(Argyle) who we have lost to in three provincial championships......Your coaches seemed like really nice people too. They certainly seemed to have the right attitude.


Hail Hail

 

[cside17]

Nice to hear from you, Bloodthirsty. I'm sorry I was busy for the game but I was being 'chastized' for the game against Point Grey. That's all I can say about that.


Yes, Bloodthirsty, the refs have been DIABOLICAL the last 3 provincials but last year's officials have been the worst of the three believe it or not. One Dart thinks this year's crews were but basically you could toss a coin to determine that. Yes, the Russian dance costumes were nice, followed by the Sombrero theme. The 70s outfits were done as per tradition. It was a whacky tournament to say the least but I will still offer congratulations to Point Grey, who may not have been the best team, but they ended up the winners. How are Handsworth looking for next year, Bloodthirsty. They were a good team, probably the best we've played all year, with Fleetwood coming a close second.....


Yes, CRiver certainly went over the spy budget for the weekend. Apparently, it's about more than angles in some situations.....

Congrats to Handsworth too for a very successful year and of course knocking out our nemesis(Argyle) who we have lost to in three provincial championships......Your coaches seemed like really nice people too. They certainly seemed to have the right attitude.


Hail Hail

Captain,hard luck in the provincials. Officiating can really fcuk you up in toruneys.......Sounds like you have a great bunch of kids. Keep up the good work,as the kids now day's need some qualtiy coaching!!!


I know someone called ALi, that took a team to the Provincials, do you know her?

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Yah, I heard there was someone named Ali doing the same thing. It really is amazing how much TGFITW do get behind you when asked........


Thanks for the words, C-side17. We did have a great group of girls and have had that over the last 4 years. The years before that were good too but this batch of athletes has been special. As I said earlier, it will be VERY difficult to make it next year but we will definitely push towards the Drive for Five...........


Hail Hail

 

[Bloodthirsty]

It was a whacky tournament to say the least but I will still offer congratulations to Point Grey, who may not have been the best team, but they ended up the winners. How are Handsworth looking for next year, Bloodthirsty. They were a good team, probably the best we've played all year, with Fleetwood coming a close second.....

Congrats to Handsworth too for a very successful year and of course knocking out our nemesis(Argyle) who we have lost to in three provincial championships......Your coaches seemed like really nice people too. They certainly seemed to have the right attitude.

Hail Hail

I should have offered congrats to Point Grey as well. When you only allow 1 goal (ok...2) in the tourney I guess you're doing something right.

Our team should be alright next year, but with only 2 seeds from our zone (^&%$><%$&#$) you never know.

All the best...