Media Coverage
Cowichan Valley Newsleader/Pictorial
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Newspaper Article - Southridge wins soccer title
By Rebecca Whitney
Online Source
'The title of A provincial high school soccer champion was decided in a hard-fought game that was almost too close to call.
Southridge of south Surrey defeated Osoyoos 2-1 in a game that could have gone either way, said tournament coordinator Tom Veenstra. In fact, most of the games played in the A tournament last weekend were tooth-and-nail battles that showcased the excellent skills of all 12 teams competing.
The host Duncan Christian School ended up 11th after a well-deserved victory over George M. Dawson in their final game.
"The girls were fairly competitive and in the end they did better than they had expected," said coach Don Waddy of the young DCS team.
"The great thing is that as the tournament went on they certainly improved; they worked really hard against every team they faced."
Although the DCS team, led by captain Erin Woof, played solid soccer throughout the entire tournament, it was unable to capitalize on their scoring chances.
The team lost its first two games to Langley Christian and Naksup, but rookie DCS goalie Leanna Vanderschaaf did everything she could to keep the games close, playing so valiantly that she was awarded game MVP by the referee.
DCS lost its next two games by a close margin, scoring one goal per game and playing out of their skins to try for the win.
Sarah Klassen scored the only goal in the 2-1 loss to Fraser Lake and captain Erin Woof booted one past the goaltender in a 3-1 loss Mt. Sentinel.
Woof played exceptional soccer in both games, keeping her team energized and positive. As a result was awarded game MVP for her efforts.
The tournament MVP was awarded to Tessa MacDougall who played on the winning Southridge team.
She shared the Golden Boot Award for most goals scored with Kelsey Willams of Osooyoos. The Fairplay Award was handed out to Fraser Lake, for sportsman-like play
After the tournament, the teams set aside competitiveness and feasted. The Hawaiian-themed banquet held at the Silver Bridge Inn gave all the girls a chance to get to know each other off the field.
Along with the screening of an action-packed tournament highlight video, awards were presented to each team's season MVP and to each school's team champion (an award for dedication and effort.)
For DCS, Woof took home the MVP, and Klassen was picked as the player who showed 110 per cent effort at all times.
"It was a great place to start," said Waddy of the tournament. "The girls represented their school well and now they know where they would like to end up next year."
Expect good things from the DCS team in 2007 when Osoyoos hosts the A provincial tournament.
Cowichan Valley Citizen
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Newpaper Article 1
The Duncan Christian Eagles wanted to use their first game of the Single-A high school soccer championships against the Langley Christian Lightning as a gauge to see how they stacked up against some of the province’s best teams.
At the Cowichan Sportsplex Thursday afternoon during a light drizzle, the Eagles got their answer in a 4-0 loss to the Lightning, who entered the tournament ranked fourth in the province.
Despite the lopsided loss, however, the Eagles did find some positives. For one, Grade 9 keeper Leanne Vanderschaaf was solid in net, turning away several point-blank shots to keep her team in the game. Another is, even though the majority of the action was in Duncan Christian’s own end, they were only down 1-0 at the half.
“We’re a young team and for almost all of our girls this was the toughest team they’ve ever played against,” said Eagles coach Don Waddy. “We didn’t really know what to expect but now we can see how complex some of the top team’s plays are and the speed we need to compete. I thought we did quite well.”
Last season, the Eagles finished second on Vancouver Island to Glenlyon Norfolk, the eventual 2005 provincial championships. This season, the Eagles are made up mostly of Grade 8-10 students after the majority of last year’s team graduated. The Eagles enter the tournament as host rather than with a ranking, but plan to use the experience to begin rebuilding the team.
Against Langley, the Eagles were tentative to start. The Lightning pressed consistently and carried most of the action around Vanderschaaf who managed to keep the game scoreless until Langley’s Courtney Brown ripped a shot from the 18-yard line over the first-year keeper’s head to make it 1-0.
“I thought we did well to start,” said Vanderschaaf. “But our inexperience shows in our lack of communication and positioning. We’re having trouble reacting to their plays and they seemed to be one step ahead of us all the time so in the second half we just got tired and started making mistakes.”
Alanna Kennedy scored early in the second half after deflecting a nice cross from Brown with her shin to give Langley a 2-0 lead. As the Eagles’ defence tired, the Lightning continued to press. In one instance, with Vanderschaaf out of position after making the initial save, the ball rolled to within inches of the goal line before defender Sarah Klassen managed to get back to take a sure goal away from Langley’s Sara Hordyk.
Moment’s later, Hannah VandenBrink made it 3-0 after rifling a shot top corner after taking a pass from Rachel Antoniuk from the corner.
Hordyk, who controlled the centre of the field most of the game, was finally rewarded when she scored while trying to pass to Brown to give Langley a 4-0 win.
The tournament continues today (Saturday) at McAdam Park, the Cowichan Sportsplex and Rotary Park with the championship final being contested at the Sportsplex at 11 a.m.
Newpaper Article 2
The Duncan Christian School Eagles went in to the provincial Single-A soccer championships like a lamb and came out like, well, not quite a lion, but a tougher lamb at least.
Up against the province’s best Single-A teams, including defending 2005 champion Glenlyon-Norfolk, the Eagles set a goal of simply scoring a goal in the tournament that began Thursday and ended with the championship game Saturday at the Cowichan Sportsplex.
After all, the team is made up entirely of Grade 9 and Grade 10 students with just one Grade 11 player on the roster.
Captain Erin Woof is just in Grade 10 and keeper Leanne Vanderschaaf, a Grade 9, had never played competitive soccer prior to this season.
After a tough 4-0 loss to Langley Christian on Thursday, DCS met their goal Thursday night when Krista Wikkerink scored against Nakusp in a 5-1 loss.
On Friday, DCS surpassed their goal when Woof scored in a 3-1 loss to Mt. Sentinel and the Eagles just missed earning their first win ever at a provincial tournament in a tough 2-1 loss to Fraser Lake. Sarah Klassen scored for DCS in that game.
Realizing they could play with some of the best teams in the province, the Eagles finished the tournament with a 1-0 win over George M. Dawson to establish themselves as the 11th best team in the province. Wikkerink scored off a pass from Danna McNeill just moments after the start of the second half. That goal stood as the game winner but DCS had some tense moments late in the game when the Thunder pressed hard for a goal even after DCS just missed on at least five solid chances at the other end of the field.
“This was a huge confidence builder for us,” said Woof after the game. “We weren’t sure what to expect at the start of this tournament but as we went along we got more and more confidence. A lot of our girls have never played in a competitive tournament like this so it was a big experience. I think we really came together as a team.”
For Dawson’s part, just being at the tournament was a huge effort. After the sinking of the Queen of the North ferry earlier this year, travel was impossible for the team to and from the Queen Charlotte Islands and Haida Gwaii. The Thunder qualified for the tournament by beating arch rival Queen charlotte Secondary 2-1 in a zone match, but their work wasn’t done yet.
Unable to take the ferry, Dawson had to raise $8,000 to fly as many players as it could to Duncan for the tournament. Once here, they didn’t have transportation arranged so organizers and tournament sponsor Clean Sweep Transportation provided them with a bus.
Nevertheless, Duncan Christian attained it’s goal of finding out where they stood overall. As host, they didn’t need to qualify for the tournament but for coach Don Waddy, it was important to see where they stood.
“Coming in 12th wouldn’t have told us anything,” Waddy told the Citizen. “ It was important for us in this tournament to see how we stacked up and we found out. We have a long way to go as far as becoming better players go, but we scored some goals and won a game so we’re moving in the right direction. We’re nowhere near the top teams but one by one this weekend the girls got the passion burning to play better and we’ll see how that build for next year.”
Elated after their first big win, the Eagles have already committed to next season.
“We’re going to start earlier and work harder next year,” added Woof. “I think a lot of the girls really understand now what the word team means and what kind of commitment that requires. This was an intense weekend for us and that really brought out some fire in some of our players and we’ll only be better down the road.”