The Quesnel Denny’s U15 girls soccer team were underdogs last weekend going into the B Cup provincial championships in 100 Mile House and came within a point of making the gold-medal game.
In the end, a loss Saturday afternoon against the top seeded West Vancouver Spurways and a tiebreaker based on goal differential favoured Kelowna United and put the Strikers in the match for fifth and sixth place.
“Where we ended up did not show how close we were to being the underdogs that came out on top,” Strikers coach Iain Brown said.
“We were just in a very close race in our pool.”
The Strikers finished the provincial championships in sixth place following a 2-1 loss to Kootenay South.
“It was very heartbreaking,” Brown said of the close game.
“We played very well.”
The Strikers entered Saturday afternoon’s pivotal game against West Vancouver with the best record in their pool following a win against Terrace and a tie against Kelowna.
To claim a spot in the gold-medal match the Strikers needed just a tie against West Vancouver.
Unfortunately, the Strikers came out on the short end of a 5-0 score.
The Spurways came out with a stifling offensive press, leaving the Strikers with little time and space to move or control the ball.
“That was the story of the tournament,” Brown said.
“We got beat to the ball.”
Although the Strikers were down just 1-0 after the first half, Brown was more pleased with the second half of the game, even though his team relinquished another four goals.
“Our second half was better than our first,” Brown said.
“We controlled the ball much better in the midfield, to bring it up to our forwards.
That style of play is exactly what Brown was looking for from his players, a control type of play with midfielders moving the ball across the field while looking for opportunities to move the ball forward.
In fact, the play of the Strikers caught the attention of several onlookers, including one of B.C.’s top soccer officials, Brown said.
“He was there assessing the refs,” Brown explained.
“He said he enjoyed watching this Quesnel team play as they played skilled soccer not kick and run like most teams.
“He was very impressed.”
The Spurways went on to the gold medal match and lost in a shootout to the Coquitlam Metro-Ford Threat.
The Strikers began the championship with a 2-2 tie against Kelowna United, in a game the Strikers almost let slip away.
Leading 2-0 with 10 minutes to play, the Strikers watched as Kelowna scored two goals to knot the score.
The Strikers held on to the tie, in large measure thanks to their keeper Colleen Moorhouse who made several key saves, but none bigger than on a penalty kick.
“She was right up there with the coastal team goalies,” Brown said of Moorhouse.
“She was stellar in our win against Terrace.”
Against the Terrace Kermodies, the Strikers came out a bit sluggish. The Kermodies took full advantage and held on to a 1-0 lead midway through the second half.
Then the tide turned.
The Kermodies got into foul trouble and they ran out of gas.
The Strikers capitalized and scored two goals late in the game for the 2-1 win.
A sixth-place finish is not what the Strikers had in mind going into Saturday’s game against West Vancouver, but Brown was impressed with his team, saying just making the playoffs was an amazing feat.
“It was a great four days,” Brown said.
“The whole team was skilled and pulled together.
“They played with heart.”